Lazy Days
by Sable Scribe
Summary: Kagome Sarutobi and Shikamaru Nara have known each other for as long as the other can remember. Being the kid next door so to speak, but as children grow up so do their emotions. Rated M, for subject matter ch 29 onward
1. Home

I don't own anything *sweatdrops*

Beta: BloodCherry

Thank you for reading over this and fixing my mistakes!

Chapter 1

**Home**

A smiling little girl ran through the streets of Konoha, blue eyes taking in everything around her. She'd just turned four, and she was terribly excited to be in the city of Konoha. It was where her daddy was and she was happy as can be to finally be able to live with him instead of her mother.

"Daddy, are we really going to stay here with Grandpa?" the small girl asked, her pig tails whipping back and forth as she danced in front of her father.

The older man smiled in amusement, she was his sunshine and about the only reason he'd decided to come home. She was doing really well with her ninja skills, and Konoha was the place to hone those talents.

"Hai, Kagome. We will be staying here from now on, are you excited?"

"Yup! Do you think I'll make a lot of friends here?" Kagome asked curiously, she'd never had a friend before, most of the other children thought her odd.

"I'm sure you will. Now come along, we need to see the Hokage," the man smiled before swooping down to catch Kagome by the waist.

"Daddy!" The small blue eyed child cried in delight, she always enjoyed being picked up.

The older man simply smiled before hurrying onward. It was time to face the music.

Kagome hummed happily as she sat on her father's hip, she loved being held by him. He was so warm and comfortable; he was everything her mother wasn't. Snuggling closer, Kagome yawned sleepily before dozing off, her face buried in her father's neck.

"The Hokage will see you now." The secretary stated before opening the door, closing it after the two walked inside.

Hiruzen sighed as he continued stamping and writing, he honestly hated all the paper work. It was really the only bad thing about the job. He still wished he could magically call Minato back and make HIM do all the paperwork.

Looking up, something inside the older man froze. It had been a very long time since his son had run off to work with the Guardians of Fire, but what stole his heart the most was the small girl snuggled down into his embrace, much like the way he had held Asuma at that age.

"I thought you weren't going to come home." An old voice full of fatigue and gravel seemed to rumble out over the room.

Asuma sighed, he knew that they didn't see eye to eye sometimes, but he loved his father and he knew this would be the best place for his daughter. Having a child of his own made him understand his father's choices much better than when he'd been a sixteen year old brat.

"I thought I wasn't either." He might as well be honest.

A slow smile slid across Hiruzen's face, it was good to see his boy again. Moving around the desk, he pulled his son into a large, partially crushing, hug. "I missed you, Asuma"

Asuma laughed lightly, "I missed you too, Dad. I understand your reasons a lot better now than I did then." Hugging his father back, he knew that everything had been forgiven, he was simply home again.

"So, how old is she?" Hiruzen asked, looking over the small child.

"Kagome turned four recently. I had a lot of problems getting her into my care, and I couldn't come home until I was her sole guardian." Asuma sighed, he had a huge fight with Kagome's mother. For one, the woman was insane, two, apparently she was a loose woman, and three, she honestly didn't care what happened to the small girl.

"Let's go, I'll take the rest of the day off. Do you want your old apartment or something more suitable for her?" Hiruzen asked, already pulling off his Hokage robes, this was a perfect reason to get away for awhile.

"Daddy, where are we?" Kagome yawned sleepily.

"We're with your Grandpa."

The small girl perked up immediately, "Grandpa, where?" Blue eyes immediately began to look around.

Hiruzen chuckled softly, only children could get so excited so fast.

Bright blue eyes found the chuckling older man, he was tall like her Daddy and they looked similar. Except his hair was turning gray, but they had the same eyes.

"Hello, Kagome." Hiruzen wanted to laugh at the searching expression and felt a joy he felt every time Konohamaru came when the tiny girl reached out to him, wanting to be held. He took the small girl and held her closely on his hip, grand children really were the spice of life. And it was nice to have his family home.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	2. Pineapples and Butterflies

I don't own anything.

Betas: HieiKag, Blood Cherry

Thank you both for helping!

Chapter 2

**Pineapples and Butterflies**

Kagome cried in delight. Her father and she had been living in Konoha for nearly three weeks, and her family had expanded so quickly too! Now she had an aunt, two uncles and a baby cousin! She was terribly excited about all the things that had been happening in her life.

Today was going to be a fun day, her father didn't have a mission and had agreed to spend the whole day with her, which meant she was going to get to see more of the village.

"Daddy, we going to the park?" Kagome asked, a small pout on pink lips that were currently frowning up at the older Sarutobi male.

"Yeah," Asuma snickered, sometimes her sentences weren't quite right but that really didn't matter, yet, anyway.

"Eh, do you think I'll make some friends?" Kagome aimed those big blue eyes of hers at her father with just a pinch of puppy eyes.

Asuma sighed, feeling his insides quiver slightly. How was it that a four year old girl had him so wrapped around her finger? "I imagine so."

"KAAAAY! Lets goo then!"

Asuma snorted as he watched the young girl rush ahead of him, they were near the park, she would be fine by herself for a few seconds. They'd finally settled into a house near his father's place, and he'd barely had any time for a good smoke. Sighing in contentment, he continued to smoke the tightly self packed cigarette. The dark haired man stood just outside the play ground, watching as the girl wonder through the park.

O

O

Kagome chuckled; it was so big, much bigger than the play grounds in Minoa. That's where she'd lived with her Mommy, but her mommy was a bad person. Kagome's mommy was always with someone besides her daddy.

She hadn't gotten to met her daddy until he'd come home from a mission almost two years ago. The youngest Sarutobi girl couldn't' really remember it or anything, but she felt a lot safer with her daddy than her mommy.

Kagome frowned as she moved to a different part of the play ground, it didn't have as many people but there was a really, really big hill with loads of grass everywhere. It would be perfect for rolling down! There was only one problem from where she was standing; there was an older boy not far from where she stood and he seemed to be picking on some of the younger boys.

That was really mean. That older boy shouldn't be calling that kid fat, at least that's what Kagome thought. The boy shouldn't be calling the other one a pineapple head either, even if he sort of did remind her of the fruit.

Frowning, Kagome didn't give a bit of warning when she went flying, giving the bully a flying kick to the face. "You need to stop bulling people!" Kagome cried, pointing to the bully on the ground. He was staring at her as if unsure what to make of her. Then again she was only half his size, and a girl.

"Oh shut it Pint Size, what do you care about some rejects?" The older boy snarled.

Kagome's cheeks puffed up, "I hate bullies."

"Whatever," The older boy snarled before turning. He would get all three of them back, of that he was sure. He wasn't known as Naraku Nagawaki for nothing!

Kagome frowned, staring at the boy as he left. Meanies were no fun.

"Yo." The boy looking at her had something akin to sleepy eyes as if he hadn't woken up right from nap time.

Kagome blinked it was the pineapple boy, "Hi?"

The fat boy smiled softly, "Thanks for that."

"Ah, no problems," Kagome replied blushing slightly, were they going to think she was weird?

"Your new here, aren't you?" Pineapple boy asked.

Kagome nodded.

"I'm Choji Akimichi." Choji laughed lightly he was never going to forget Naraku's face. EVER! The boy had picked on him since as long as he could remember; seeing Naraku being knocked flat on his butt by this tiny girl would be a good memory, indeed.

"Shikamaru Nara," Shikamaru sighed, this was going to be so troublesome. Naraku was never going to leave them alone, but it had been amusing to see him get kicked in the face.

"Oh, I'm Kagome Sarutobi." The little girl replied easily, having no idea at the surprise that was caused by telling her name.

Both boys eyes widened slightly, was that even possible?

"Are you related to the Hokage?" One of the boys asked, his pony tail seemed to stick up more like he was surprised.

Kagome frowned, she'd heard that word before, right? The dark haired girl was making a cute little face, her nose wrinkling, while her bright blue eyes looked upward as if the clouds held the answer, oh! Yeah, that's what they called the head of the village here; that was her grandpa alright. "Yeah, he's my Grandpa."

"I thought the Hokage only had a Grandson." Shikamaru commented eyeing her with doubt.

"Ah, umm," Kagome fidgeted, "Daddy and Grandpa had a fight, and Daddy only came home a few weeks ago…"

Shikamaru blinked, that made sense. His dad had said one of the younger Sarutobi sons had finally come home recently, but he hadn't said anything about a kid. "So how old are you, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm four…." Kagome replied, absentmindedly folding her thumb as if to show with her small hands she was indeed four.

Choji nodded, she was a little TOO small to be the same age as them "Shikamaru and me are both six."

"Well, why didya let that kid bully ya?" Kagome asked, she'd been bullied a lot in Minoa.

"It would be troublesome," Shikamaru replied, it really would sometimes the path of least resistances worked best.

Choji shrugged.

"What's…tro…trob trobsom?" Kagome frowned.

"Don't worry about it. Want to watch clouds with us?" Shikamaru asked.

"Ah…Will you be my friend if I do?" Kagome asked, her cheeks slightly pink for asking.

"Sure!" Choji grinned, she was what his mamma would call cute.

Shikamaru just nodded, wondering why she needed to ask.

"Okay!" Kagome followed them up; she wasn't sure if she could watch clouds as long as them…this hill just looked like it needed to be rolled on.

O

O

Asuma nearly choked on his cigarette when Kagome kicked another kid in the face without pause. Geez, he was going to have to talk to her about the correct response to bullies. Planting your size 11 toddler shoe in the other child's face wasn't it, neither was kicking them in the nuts… he was really glad she didn't go with the second one.

Shikaku had been on his way to pick up Shikamaru and his friend Choji, one minute he'd been watching as they were being bullied, the next said bully was being smacked in the face with an extremely small foot. "So, Asuma, working on her Taijutsu already?"

Asuma nearly jumped but managed to stop himself, "Yeah. How are you, Shikaku?"

"Pretty good, so how old is she?" The older man asked stroking his goatee, that little girl looked as curious as a kitten.

Asuma chuckled, "Four, she tends to get into trouble."

Shikaku snorted, "I noticed, you sticking around this time?"

"Yeah, I want to. Kagome needs a stable home life." Asuma sighed, he still felt guilty, he hadn't even known about Kagome until she was nearly two!

Shikaku raised a brow, "That bad, eh?"

"Yeah, I didn't know I had a kid 'til she was two. Her mother didn't see a need to tell me about her. Woman was nuts, sleep around a lot, brought men home. Ignored her."

Shikaku frowned, "She in your care now?"

"Yeah," Asuma nodded watching as Kagome could no longer sit still, he nearly broke down laughing as she went rolling down the grassy hill. Only to let out a delighted laugh, climb back up and do it again.

"She seems happy," Shikaku chuckled softly as Choji joined in the rolling. It was nice to see them being kids, while his lazy son simply laid there, probably enjoying the laughter.

Asuma nodded and merely watched.

O

O

Shikamaru nearly died when Kagome shot up beside him, she'd spooked him properly for once. They'd been laying there a while, but she was a lot younger than them and apparently more drawn to movement. The next thing that he knows she's rolling down the hill like a little kid.

Within moments, Choji joined in. For the next few minutes Shikamaru just watched; he knew it was boring sometimes for Choji to just sit and watch clouds, with the younger girl around it seemed that wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Looking over he sighed, there was his dad. Shikamaru simply shut his eyes and enjoyed the laughter.

Shikaku sighed, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take them with me… It's time for them to eat." He really didn't want to listen to Yoshino nag, he loved his wife, but still.

Asuma nodded, at least she was making friends, right?

"SHIKAMARU, CHOJI! COME ON!" The Nara's deep voice seemed to boom across the park with ease.

Asuma sighed, geez, he was loud.

The two boys finally came at a slow pace before following Shikaku out of the park. Within minutes, Kagome was beside her father with a cheery grin on her face. She'd had so much fun!

"Have fun, princess?"

"Hai, an I'm not a pricess" Kagome replied, a smart look on her face.

Asuma snorted, he really needed to work on Kagome's pronunciation. "Ready to go?"

Kagome nodded before lifting her arms up, Asuma complied swinging the girl into his arms. 'Geez, she was so his kid,' he thought to himself as he walked the rest of the way home, it was totally time for a nap.

O

Shikamaru sighed, something had been bothering him since he'd meet Kagome in the park. After they dropped Choji off, he couldn't wait anymore.

"Dad?" Shikamaru asked, it had been a long time since he'd asked his father a question.

"Yeah?" Shikaku could feel his eyebrows rise up in surprise.

"Is there something wrong with Kagome?"

"Why do you ask?" Shikaku sighed, sometime it was regretful when those of the Nara began to lose their innocence.

"She didn't know how to make friends…"

"Well, Kagome was in a bad place before her dad found her." Shikaku replied, a bit uncomfortable with the subject matter.

"Is she in a good place now?" Shikamaru asked staring up at his dad.

Shikaku smiled a bit, "Yeah, she is."

"Okay," Shikamaru nodded, it was just one more thing he wouldn't have to worry about.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	3. Bettles are the Best

I don't own anything

AN: Some grammatical mistakes are made on purpose in light of the fact that Kagome is only four.

Chapter 3

**Bettles are the Best**

Kagome sighed, she been friends with Shikamaru and Choji for nearly a month, but they had both gotten sick with chicken pops and her father had refused to let her go see them. Something about it being contagious and he didn't want her getting them. But she really didn't understand, how did you catch chicken pops, weren't they just chicken flavored popsicles?

It didn't matter though, her daddy had been letting her come to the park by herself and it made her feel very grown up. Well, it really wasn't by herself, one of his summons always tagged along. It was okay though because Kagome really, really, really liked Koaku, she was a very sweet ape, much like Enma the king was. She watched over Kagome from the shadows to keep the smaller girl out of trouble that was irreversible, at least.

So, she was once again at the park playing. She hadn't really met anyone else besides the two boys, and she wasn't sure she wanted to; a lot of the kids in Konoha seemed mean.

But today was going to be a bit different, there was a woody area she'd never been in before and it was time to don her esplorer hat and see new things.

What she found delighted her, it was a boy and she wasn't sure what the heck he was doing. He had on a coat that covered the bottom of his face and some smart looking sunglasses…_Wonder if Daddy'll let me get some sunglasses like that…_

Shaking the thought from her head, Kagome crept ever closer giving herself an internal narrative about catching the older boy off guard.

Just as she pounced the boy moved. Kagome sighed, it wasn't fair, she'd been really, really quiet. Not only that but, now she was upside down, the boy was just looking down at her with a lifted eyebrow. At least his eyebrow wasn't like some of those creepy ladies who painted theirs on.

"How did you know?" Kagome asked in a pout.

"The bugs."

"Bugs?" She questioned.

"Hai, I'm an Aburame." The boy replied.

"What's an Abrume?" Kagome asked a frown on her face.

"It's Aburame, and we are a ninja clan that contains bugs in our Chakra coils."

"Ohhh, that's neat." Kagome suddenly wrinkled her nose, a small fuzzy caterpillar had landed on her forehead at some point in the jumbled mass of confusion when she'd tried to pounce on the boy. Now it was climbing down, or maybe it was up since she was upside down.

Kagome sneezed lightly before rolling over. "I'm Kagome Sarutobi, nice to meet you."

The boy tilted his head to the side slightly as if deciding something before replying, "Shino Aburame. You are not afraid of bugs, are you?"

Kagome grinned, "Nope, they are just bugs, if I leave them alone, they would leave me alone. But I like caterpillars and butterflies and lady bugs, and those horny beetles."

"Horny Beetles?" Shino tried to contain his mirth, his dad would appreciate that comment.

"Yeah, like the herly bettles, they have horns everywhere."

"Hercules Beetles?" Shino really wanted to die laughing, how old was she?

"Yeah, and the rhinocecesees bettles" Kagome smiled, her eyes slightly shiny. No one else would talk to her about bugs, they said it was bad for her.

"Rhinoceros Beetles?" Shino didn't think he could hold it in much longer, a soft snicker escaped.

"Yeah, how do you know all the names so well?" Kagome asked, her head tilted very much to the side like a curious kitten or maybe a puppy?

"Practice," The boy responded.

"Aw, that's no fun. Wanna play?" Kagome asked a pouting look on her face.

"Play what?" An eyebrow rose again.

"Esplorer!" The smaller girl practically shouted.

"Esplorer, what is that?" Shino asked.

"It's were you esplor some where you hadn't been afor and see what's there." She responded, finally getting out of the leaves she'd landed in earlier. It would be bad to just jump back in again, wouldn't it?

Shino laughed softly, "Okay, I'll play."

"Yay!" Kagome cried out in joy, not having someone to play with for two days, well, it wasn't much fun.

For the next several hours the two enjoyed themselves, Kagome learned A LOT more about bugs and tried her best to sneak up on Shino as the hours passed.

o

"Kagome!" Asuma sighed, where the heck was she? Koaku said she was at the park, but he couldn't find hide or hair of the girl.

Where could she have gotten off to?

Shibi chuckled as he listened to his son talk about the young girl in his arms. Horny bettles, indeed. He hadn't seen Shino this happy in a while. He was glad his son had met someone who did not mind the bugs that lived within their bodies.

Both Aburame men stilled at the echoing call of Asuma Sarutobi. "That's probably Kagome's dad," Shino stated looking up at his father.

Shibi nodded as the two made their way toward the young man.

"Asuma." Shibi nodded, before adjusting the small dark haired girl in his arms.

"Shibi, I see you've found my little monkey." Asuma laughed softly.

"Monkey?" Shino asked, a slightly confused look on his six year old face.

"Yeah, she's my little pranking troublemaker."

Shino frowned, "Really?"

Asuma nodded, "She tired herself out trying to pounce on you, yeah?"

Shino's eyes widened, "How… did you know that?"

"She does that with all her friends, you should watch her when she catches Shikamaru off guard." A smile ran across his face.

Shibi chuckled softly, he'd seen one such occasion, the boy almost always bolted upright. "Well, it's time for us to be off. It was a pleasure seeing you, Asuma."

Asuma nodded back as he took Kagome from the older man's arm, "Shino, feel free to come see Kagome anytime you like."

Shino smiled behind the neck of his jacket.

The two Aburame watched him go.

"Dad, I think you would have liked her, and her rhinocecesees bettles." Shino laughed again, mirth apparent in his voice.

Shibi chuckled, "Well, I'll have to meet her again when she's awake, then?"

"Yeah, do you think I could hang out with her and those other boys?"

"I'd imagine so." Shibi continued to chuckle, he was going to have to speak with the council. They would appreciate the comments of the young girl as much as he did.

"I'd like that," Shino responded, he rarely got to play with those outside the compound.

Shibi smiled taking his son's hand, the two of them talked the rest of the day about all the things the two had done during the day.

Edited:9/2/2012


	4. Sleeping Pup

I don't own anything

Beta: BloodCherry

Chapter 4

**Sleeping Pup**

Kagome sighed; everyone she usually played with was away today. Shino was with his father, while she wasn't really sure what Shikamaru was doing, but it was positively 'TROUBLESOME" in the Shika's words. Choji, on the other hand, was helping his dad with a new recipe for their BBQ Restaurant, she was going to get to taste test it when they were finished.

So once again here she was alone, proof that she needed to make more friends so that this would stop happening! Since coming to Konoha it was few and far between that Kagome was alone. Many a day was spent with Shino or with Shikamaru and Choji, and it was hurt something inside when she was alone now.

Sighing at the thought, Kagome settled on the swings, she would figure out something to do. They'd only been in Konoha for about six months, and she wasn't allowed to come to the park as often as she'd like.

But she had meet two girls, one was name Ino, she had pretty blue eyes and her friend who was rather odd. Her name was Sakura, she had a really big forehead compared to the rest of her face, her hair was pink and eyes a bright shiny green and she wanted to be a ninja. Kagome had asked her father repeatedly how the girl had gotten PINK hair, it was a bit disturbing. Sure, her own had a blue tint to it, and a lot of the Hyuuga members she'd seen on the streets had a purplely tint to match those lavender eyes of theirs, but still, pink?

Kagome hadn't been too impressed with them; they were always talking about flowers and boys. Specifically a boy named Sasuke, who was soooo cute and swweeet. It made her want to vomit, and confirmed she would never act like a normal girl, if those two could be considered normal.

Kagome sighed, why was today SOOO boring, she wondered as she swung higher and higher.

Huffing, Kagome jumped laughing happily as she seemed to fly through the air before landing on the ground. The first time she'd jumped out of the swing while her father had been watching had nearly caused the young man to have a heart attack, but to Kagome it was just plain funny.

Kagome blinked, was that pile of leaves moving?

The four year old moved closer and nearly fell over when an extremely small white puppy popped out of the leaves. Where had he come from? Kagome wasn't really sure, but he certainly was cute.

"Hiya puppy, why are you here?" Kagome asked.

Akamaru sniffed the girl, she seemed really nice. Nicer than his partner who wouldn't wake up, they needed to go home! And he didn't want to get scolded by Kuromaru, he was scary. Akamaru tugged lightly, on the girl's shorts, she was needed to wake the boy up. Kiba, was now immune to being licked in the face.

Kagome blinked, "Okay, okay, stop tugging, I'll follow you."

Akamaru barked happily before rushing forward.

Kagome cried trying to keep up, the small dog was rather fast for its size. As they passed the Merry-go-round she had to wonder were exactly they were going.

As they continued Kagome found her eyes widening, she'd stayed on the north, north eastern side of the play ground because it had been where she'd found Shikamaru, Choji, and Shino. She'd never gone to the southern side! The park really was large, her daddy said it was like 100 acres or something big.

"Ne, puppy, slow down!" Kagome cried before suddenly being forced to come to a halt by eating dirt. She'd tripped over the small white dog, it wasn't far. Sniffling, Kagome could feel the tears welling up.

Akamaru would have sworn if he could that is, crying wasn't something he was supposed to have to handle. Whimpering he began to lick the young girls face, nope, no crying, small puppies weren't suppose to have to handle small girls that tripped over them then began to cry.

Kagome sniffled again, caught some were between crying and laughing, which ended making her cough. Wiping at the tears, she spoke, "I'm sorry. It just hurts a bit," before standing up on wobbly legs. It really hurt, she thought to herself, looking at the broken skin of her knee.

Akamaru sighed in relief, before once again tugging at the young girls shorts.

Kagome huffed as they continued onward, until they came to a large grassy area that was situated beneath a large oak tree. On one of the branches an old swing, wavered in the breeze while a young boy snoozed in the shade.

"So, is this who you wanted to show me?" Kagome asked, eying the little dog.

Akamaru nodded, geez, this was such a hassle. And the other nin-dogs wondered why he gave the boy issues.

Kagome sat down next to the boy, studying him intently short spiky hair seemed to be more unruly than most, running everywhere, but it was relatively short. He wore simple, ninja sandals, dark brown shorts, and for some odd reason a long sleeved jersey, which was several shades darker at the elbows. But what was most interesting to Kagome, were the red triangles below his eyes.

Kagome fidgeted, he just looked so interesting, she shouldn't but she wanted to. For the next several seconds, many different emotions ran across her young features as she warred with herself.

Akamaru sighed, why were humans so WEIRD?

Moving onto her knee, Kagome leaned over lightly before beginning to rub the red triangles, they were really smooth and not too different than his other skin, so why were they red?

Kiba slowly woke up, it was odd, it felt like someone was rubbing his cheeks. But no one would do that, it was disrespectful. Blinking, Kiba yelped at the sight of two blues orbs narrowed on his face. Jerking upward, he groaned as his forehead made contact with the face in front of him.

Kagome gave a cry. That really, really hurt! And now her knee hurt again, but the pain was really bad in her ankle and she didn't know why. The tears were falling freely this time, normally a little pain didn't bother her, but it hurt in her ankle a lot, when the boy smacked his face against hers it had pushed her back on it, and it twisted and made a funny popping sound.

Akamaru groaned, he'd just gotten the kid to stop crying in the first place.

Kiba huffed lightly, before looking at the crying girl. Aww, geez, he hadn't meant to make her cry! Crap, Hana was going to smack him. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry. Don't cry!" Kiba moved to crouch in front of the smaller girl.

" But it hurts." Kagome sniffled.

"Where?"

"My knee and my ankle," She replied.

Kiba sighed, oh yeah, that was sprained. Her ankle was already starting to swell up pretty bad, not only that but he could see an angry black and purpling bruise starting to form. That was never a good sign, her knee on the other hand looked like it was scrapped up pretty badly, ripping at his shirt, before licking at it.

"Ea! Wh…wh….why are you licking my knee?" Kagome asked, her cheeks pink. Her knee jerking lightly as the boy continued licking it again, and again.

"Oh, to see how bad it is." Kiba responded, before wrapping it in the torn of stripe of his shirt. That would hold the knee, but there was no way she was going to walk on that ankle.

"Ah... 'kay." Kagome nibbled on her lip, she still hadn't figured out what the red triangles meant.

"Soo, where are you suppose to be?" Kiba asked.

"Over at the North gate. My daddy is supposed to pick me up soon." Kagome sighed, he was going to be mad at her. She wasn't were she said she was going to be.

"Kay," Bending down in front of the girl, "Get on my back, okay?"

"O-okay," Kagome struggled, and yelped when she started to fall forward, thankfully Kiba, moved quickly enough so that the younger girl was settled across his back.

"Ne, um, why do you have red triangles on your face?" Kagome asked quietly, her chin was resting on his shoulder and slender arms were easily looped over his shoulders.

"Oh, they show what clan I'm from. My name's Kiba Inuzuka, by the way." The boy replied, watching as Akamaru trotted beside him at an even pace.

"I'm Kagome Sarutobi. Thank you for taking me back."

"Don't worry about it," Kiba replied, since it was partly his fault. Not only that, but his mother was going to kill him.

The next twenty minutes passed in compatible chatter, Kiba learned that Kagome had an aunt, two uncles and a baby cousin and her grandfather was Hokage, were as Kagome learned that Kiba had a very large and loud family and he wasn't sure if he could count all his family members because it was a rather large number and continually grew.

And it just continued on and on, until they were finally at the gate.

Asuma frowned, "What did you do?"

Kagome sighed, "I fell."

"Doing what?" Asuma asked.

"That was sorta my fault," Kiba responded, geez, this guy was big.

"Really?" Asuma asked a brow rose.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean to knock her over, she just startled me is all."

"It was my fault too…" Kagome pouted.

Asuma sighed, "Alright then let's go, you're going to see a doctor." Pulling Kagome off, of the young boy's back wasn't too hard, she was just that little.

Kagome pouted, "Fine. Kiba, can we play again?"

Kiba sweat dropped they hadn't done much playing. "Sure, I'll see you later, Kagome." The boy waved, before running off. He was so doomed, his mother was going to make him clean the kennels all by himself, he could feel it.

Akamaru chuckled darkly; this was going to be fun, before following after his partner.

"You make the oddest friends, kid."

"I got it from my daddy. I mean, you hang out with that weirdo Scarecrow all the time, or the guy in the green spanda suit." Kagome replied a frown on her face, before shuddering. The spanda suit guy was scary, always screaming about flames and youth.

Asuma just groaned, why did she have to be so much like him? Shaking his head, they headed to a doctor's office to get the foot wrapped. Asuma could now honestly say that he was a bit terrified of what Kagome and Kiba could get into.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	5. Crate Robbing

I don't own Naruto/Inuyasha. =]

Beta:BloodCherry

Thank you for fixing this up!

Some people asked for ages,

Kagome-4

Naruto-6

Lee-8

Bankotsu -9

Chapter 5

**Crate Robbing**

Kagome sighed, she was completely lost and she had no idea where Koaku was and that was a bad thing. Koaku always helped her find her way home and now she was all lost and alone, and she was pretty sure that this wasn't the best part of town.

She huffed, until she felt a pair of eyes on her. She wasn't sure what told her to run, but it was the same as when her mother was acting funny back in Minoa. Shuddering, she took off running as fast as her small legs would carry her. She was so scared and she wanted her daddy, suddenly she gave a cry as she fell. Two older boys were standing in front of her, they were looking down at her as if they were really mad.

"Brat, watch where you're going!" The dark haired boy growled annoyed.

"Bankotsu, be nice, she's obviously not in the right place."

"Oh, shut it, Bushy Rock." Bankotsu growled, he hated this place. It was nothing but the pits, and brats had no place to be in it.

Lee sighed, "Hey, where are you from?"

"Gate side," Kagome frowned, reciting the name her father had made sure that she memorized.

Both boys stopped utterly shocked, Gate side wasn't super upper crust, but it was miles and miles above this place. How the heck had the kid gotten here?

"How did you get here?" Bankotsu asked, the purple marking making him stand out.

"Someone knocked me over and I fell down in this crate. Then the crate moved and it stopped and I got out….and now I'm here." Kagome muttered, gnawing on her lip as she poked her fingers together.

Both boys groaned, she'd probably been knocked into one of the drug runs. She was pretty damn lucky not to be dead in an alley some place. "She can't stay here, Bankotsu…" Lee whispered.

"I know that, Bushy Rock! But what can we do? It'll take all day to get her back there, she's a little brat!" Bankotsu retorted. He might not act like it but she still seemed pretty innocent, she needed to keep it. Rubbing his face roughly he sighed, "Fine. Hey kid… who are you related to?"

Kagome sighed, "What are ya gunna do?"

"Well if we know who you belong to, we can get you back faster." Bankotsu muttered.

"My daddy is Asuma Sarutobi."

Both boys went pale, what if they got held accountable for what happened? "Oi! Let's get Naruto."

"Ah… what?" Bankotsu had a slightly shocked face on.

"You know the old Hokage likes him. Naruto can help us get her back." Lee stated, he might not be the brightest bulb in the package but he had his moments.

"Lee…I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said." Bankotsu muttered to himself before nodding. Bending down, he waved for the little girl to get on, he nearly grinned when she blushed before clamoring onto his back. Sometimes being older than everyone else had its perks, that and she was cute… for a brat.

"So, Ms. Sarutobi… how old are you?" Lee asked cheerily, walking with a perk in his step.

"Ah… I'm four… and, and, don't call me that… I'm just Kagome." She stated with a frown.

Lee chuckled, she wasn't how he thought most of the upper class people were. The Sarutobi clan seemed like they would be more like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. Both of those clans looked down on street rats like himself and Bankotsu, but they both had dreams. They both wanted out of this place, being a ninja was the fastest track to do so. Bankotsu wanted to be strong enough to help his family, while Lee wanted to help protect his friends… if he could ever make anymore.

It never took long to find Naruto Uzumaki, at least not here in the more slummy area of Konoha. For one, he was about as blonde as a kid could be, and that was a rare color in Konoha. For the second, the kid wore enough orange to glow in the dark and be able to see three feet ahead at any time because of the amazing shining properties of his jumpsuit. How he managed all those pranks without getting caught, none of the inhabitants knew.

Lee hurried, finding the old rundown apartment complex. The two boys hurried up the stairs before Lee began banging on the door.

"What?" A young voice shouted on the inside.

"Naruto, we are in need of your services!" Lee shouted cheerily.

The door swung open, before the small blond came out to stare up at the boy, "Bushy Brows not so loud….my neighbors hate me enough as it is. Whaddya need?"

"This kid needs to get to the Hokage," Bankorsu stated, nodding his head to the girl on his back.

Naruto's face screwed up into a frown, "Why?"

"It's his granddaughter," Lee replied.

"Hi!" Kagome's face popped over Bankotsu's shoulder to wave. She'd been playing with his hair since climbing on the older boys back. Now, it was in a nice long braid.

Naruto blinked, "What's that got to do with me?"

Bankotsu groaned, "Not everyone can go to the Hokage's tower, we need you to come with us 'cause she's lost….And doesn't know how to get back."

Naruto stared at them as if considering this, before sighing. He would probably scare the crap out of the old man, but he would probably want his granddaughter back, "Okay fine, come on."

"Neee, does that mean I'm not gunna see you guys again?" Kagome pouted, she liked the three boys. But she doubted that her daddy would let her come back to this part of town.

"Ah… Kagome not many of us live in that part of town." Bankotsu answered, "Naruto would probably be interested, though."

"Really?" Kagome eyed the blonde boy.

Naruto blinked in surprise before a happy grin ran across his face, "Sure, why not? I hang around that part of town all the time… the best people to prank are in your area."

"So, you guys aren't going to be ninjas?" Kagome asked.

Both Lee and Bankotsu sighed, slightly depressed. Lee finally answered, "It requires more money than we have to be able to get into the Academy, Kagome."

"Awww… that sucks…" Kagome frowned.

"You could do what I did," Naruto replied, "just ask the Hokage when we get to the tower."

"Did you really just ask him?"

"Ahhh, yeah," Naruto stated a slightly amused smirk on his face before it gentled into a gentle smile when they finally arrived at the tower.

Moving past them, Naruto yelled out, "OOOLD MAN!"

"Naruto, stop that yelling." Genma stated, looking down at the small blonde as he continued to gnaw on the senbon needle in his mouth.

"Sorry, sorry…buuuuut, we found Old man's grandkid in the projects." Naruto grinned.

Genma raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Hi!" Kagome popped her head up from behind Bankotsu's shoulder from where she'd continued to play with his hair, Bankotsu had given up on making her stop.

"Kagome, how did you get in the slums?" Genma asked, not sure how he felt about all this.

"I fell in a box, and it moved."

Genma sweat dropped, before opening the door "Alright you four, go on, Hokage-sama won't bite."

Hiruzen looked up, to find three boys and his granddaughter in front of him. "Hiya, Grandpa!" Kagome waved cheerily.

"Kagome, we've had ninja out looking for you for hours what happened?" Hiruzen asked relieved to see her.

"Well, I got knocked over and fell in a box thing, and it moved. Then I got out, and got scared and started running, then I ran into Bankotsu, then they brought me here!" Kagome grinned.

Hiruzen sighed, "I see." In fact, Hiruzen did not see but he was relatively sure that if she ended up in Naruto's district, that his granddaughter had a large amount of luck on her side. Looking over the three boys, he pondered over what he could give them as a thank you, "Is there anything I can do for you, for bringing back my granddaughter?" Hiruzen asked.

Lee and Bankotsu grinned, "Get us into the ninja academy!" They both replied.

"RAMEN!" Naruto yelled happily.

Hiruzen chuckled, "Alright, I'll make preparations." It would be interesting to see what the two boys could do. Now, he would just have to get Asuma to come in and calm himself when he got a hold of his daughter.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	6. Stormy Scares

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto, and Rumiko Takahashi. I make no money in posting or writing these works of fiction. But! It's a great practice for my own novel works and to relieve the boredom.

Beta: BloodCherry

Thank you dear. =D

Is there a specific something you guys want to see in this story? If so, drop me an email. I'll add it to the list, I plan on trying to update more often. I would also like to ask all of you who are reading and not reviewing, to please review! Those of you who do review, well you guys make me squeal in joy when I see I get a review so Thankies. Love you all, Scribe!

Chapter 6

**Stormy Scares**

Asuma sighed as he looked toward the sky, it was pouring rain and it was just a horrible way to start a mission. Kakashi, Gai and himself had been selected to escort the Fire Daimyo to a number of lords' households throughout the Land of Fire. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Konohamaru, his brother Misato his father were sick, so in a sense, there was no one to watch Kagome.

Yoshino, and Shikaku by extension, had come to the rescue at the last moment; they had simply stated that Kagome could stay with them until he returned. He felt a bit guilty considering that Kagome seemed to absolutely adore Shikamaru and tended to climb all over the boy… and well, all her friends if given the chance.

Kagome pouted, "You going, Daddy?"

Asuma sighed, before nodding "Yes, and you're going to listen to Shikaku and Yoshino, right?"

"Yeah, daddy, I promise." Kagome replied, she didn't really want him to go, it wasn't fair! But at least she got to play with Shikamaru.

"Alright, okay…" Asuma took a deep breath before knocking on the door, damn it, this would be the first time Kagome had spent the night with someone outside his family.

Yoshino Nara was a strict woman, she had to be, with two extremely lazy Nara men. So, when her unmotivated son came in contact with and made friends with a hyperactive energetic little girl, she decided then and there she wanted to get to know the little girl. Opening the door, Yoshino could only sigh at the inky black movement of rain. It wasn't very late only about 7pm, but the rain seemed to have blocked out the smallest amount of sunlight.

"Asuma and this must be Kagome." Yoshino looked down at the little girl and almost cooed, the small girl was adorable. She was wearing everyday wear; faded jean shorts, a simple yellow tank top, and large red rain boots, her hair was up in a side pony tail that fell well below her shoulder and she had big blue eyes.

"Hiya!" Kagome waved happily.

"Yoshino, thank you very much for allowing Kagome to stay," Asuma smiled weakly.

"It's no problem at all." She responded, trying to calm his fears.

"Here are Kagome's things, which should be enough to get her through the week. If not, you can call my mother Biwako for a key to my home." Asuma was more nervous than Kagome was… It was slightly mortifying.

Yoshino suppressed an amused smile, Shikaku would never admit it but he had been the same way when Shikamaru went to spend the night with Choji for the first time. "Alright, I can handle that."

"Daddy, you're gonna make Scarecrow and Spanda wait on you." Kagome blinked up at her father, a warm smile on her face.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow, who the heck was Scarecrow and Spanda? "Say good bye, Kagome."

"Hai! Daddy, bend down!" Kagome grinned.

Asuma sighed, before doing so "Yes?"

"Love you, be good." Kagome hugged her father happily before pecking his cheek lightly, before sighing in delight when a large hug was given in return.

"Alright, love you too." Asuma waved and took off, before he decided to cancel his mission.

Yoshino chuckled, "Kagome, Shikamaru is at the top of the stairs to the left if you want to see him, leave your rain boots right here, alright." Yoshino turned, shutting and locking the door for the night.

"Okay, Yoshi!" Kagome quickly did as commanded before practically flying up the steps.

"Yoshi?" Shikaku asked, curious.

"I don't think she even realized she said that." Yoshino laughed, before pulling her husband close for a kiss.

Shikaku could only think having Kagome around was a good thing if Yoshino was just going to start kissing him more often.

O

Kagome sighed, she'd been at the Nara household for several hours and it was time to go to sleep. The only problem was it was lightening and thundering, and the louder it got the more scared she became. She wanted nothing more than to hide in a corner, though more importantly, she wanted her daddy, but he wasn't here, so she was all alone without him. Kagome could feel herself beginning to shake. Sniffling, Kagome grabbed her stuffed animal, which happened to be a small black cat, before walking down the hallway toward Shikamaru's bedroom. Normally, if she was at Uncle Misato's or her Grandpa's, she would just crawl in bed with them if she had a bad dream or got scared, but she didn't really know Yoshino and Shikaku enough to crawl in with them.

Just as Kagome had stepped inside Shikamaru's room, a boom of thunder and striking lightening made her cry out before curling up into a ball against one of the walls of the house. Silent tears began to poor over her small cheeks while she shook against the floor. She sniffled and whimpered, she really wanted her daddy.

Shikamaru never slept well at night, it was as close to insomnia as one could get without actually getting the disease. His mind worked too hard and fast to slow down and settle into the REM sleep that most people needed. It was one of the reason's he liked tending the deer, and watching the clouds. They made it much easier to sleep at night; it was calming and often seemed to slow his mind down.

This was also why he had woken up when so much as a pin dropped when he was a child, he'd never really grown out of his sound awareness as he'd gotten older. He'd once asked his father about it, apparently it was something that came with being a Nara. All his family, or at least those born of Nara blood, tended to have the same problem. So, when the small cry went off not too far from his bed, he'd woken to the thundering lightening and a whimpering sound near the wall leading to his door.

Blinking, Shikamaru sighed when his eyes focused on the small figure shivering "Kagome, what are you doing?"

"I was scared, and I want my daddy." Kagome whimpered, before crying out again when lightning flashed outside the window.

"You're dad is away Kagome, what do you usually do when you get scared?" Shikamaru asked, getting out of his comfortable warm bed to kneel next to her, rubbing her back.

"I sleep with him," she replied.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, eyeing his shaking friend, "Come on," it took Shikamaru a good ten minutes to get Kagome into his bed.

"Shikamaru?" Kagome asked, she was laying next to the boy, looking at her friend.

"Hmmm?" Shikamaru yawned loudly as he laid on his back.

"Thank you," Kagome stated, squirming a bit to get comfortable.

"Just go to sleep, nothing will be troublesome here." Shikamaru stated calmly.

"Okay…" Kagome stated sniffling lightly, before she began to doze off.

Several hours later Yoshino would giggle helplessly when she walked in to check up on Shikamaru and Kagome. Originally, when she hadn't been able to find Kagome, she had been extremely worried about the girl, but to find her snuggling her son like he was a teddy bear was possibly the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Kagome's face was buried between Shikamaru's neck and the pillow, her small arms were wrapped around Shikamaru's waist, it was adorable. The fact that her son returned the teddy love was all the more amusing. Shikamaru's face was hidden in Kagome's hair, and he seemed to have a firm grip, considering he was cradling the back of her head and shoulders.

"Yoshino, what are you doing?" Shikaku asked, his hair down from sleep.

"Get a camera," Yoshino stated as she continued standing in the door way.

Shikaku muttered "Troublesome," before doing as he was told. "So what is this about?"

Yoshino took the camera and aimed it at the room before taking several pictures; this would be perfect for his wedding. Moments like this should never be forgotten!

Shikaku sighed before leaning around his wife to see the two children cuddled together in bed. "You know, the older they get, the more inappropriate that's going to get?"

Yoshino rolled her eyes, "That's why I should enjoy it now, instead of when they start sealing up his room to keep things quiet, and locked."

Shikaku nearly choked, "What!? What would make you think those two will do that?"

"A mother always knows," Yoshino smiled before dragging her husband away to cook breakfast for the two. Nope, she wasn't going to say anything… but she would give a copy of the photos to Asuma. It would be interesting to see if she would be right in the future.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	7. Fireworks

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha they belong to Masashi Kinomoto, and Rumiko Takahashi. I make no money in posting or writing these works of fiction.

Beta: RomanticPrincess

Thank you, dear!

FYI, Neji's pop hasn't died….I do not wanna write Emo Neji or Emo Sasuke soooo, it's just not going to happen.

Is there a specific something you guys want to see in this story? If so drop me an email I'll add it to the list, I plan on trying to update more often. I would also like to ask all of you who are reading and not reviewing, to please review! Those of you who do review, well you guys make me squeal in joy when I see I get a review so Thankies. Love you all, Scribe!

Chapter 7

**Fireworks**

Kagome was extremely excited, she was going to get to see something called fireworks Shikamaru and Choji were going to be there and she was extremely excited! She wasn't sure what fireworks were, or what they did, but Shikamaru compared them to his clouds so they had to be worth watching.

"Daddy, what exactly are fireworks?"

"You'll see at the festival." Asuma smiled lightly.

"What's the festival for?"

"The creation of Konoha." Asuma snickered, his father would be extremely anger if he heard that question!

"Oh…Who made Konoha again?"

"The first Hokage."

"Oh…" Kagome finally stopped, she really didn't care about the first hokage.

She sighed, before she skipped along with her father though it was a bit hard, he'd made her wear a kimono and she didn't like it at all! But it was a cute kimono, with its small silver and blue sparrows flying about, with naked trees climbing the kimono allowing some of the small birds to land on branches.

Blinking, Kagome sighed, she'd gotten separated again. She was really good at getting lost, or misplacing her daddy. Huffing up into a pout, she yelped when she ran into someone, "Owwie."

"Neji-nii, are you alright?" A soft voice asked.

Kagome blinked to find two people who looked very much a like standing in front of her. One was a girl with extremely short hair, while the boy had long hair, both had light purple eyes, and purple tinged hair. They had to be Hyuuga's Kagome thought to herself, "Oh, Sorry about running into you." Kagome stated, blushing when the two turned those pupil less eyes on her.

Neji raised an eyebrow, she was….small…..tiny…..and very young. "Apology accepted."

Kagome sent him a very large happy grin.

"Ano….where is your mom or dad?" The girl asked.

"I don't know….I misplaced daddy again, and my mom didn't want me." Kagome stated, completely oblivious to the surprised looks on the adults faces. "I just wanted to see Shikamaru and Choji." Kagome pouted.

Hiashi and Hizashi shared a look, those had to be Chouza and Shikaku's brats. "We will accompany you there."

"Kay…" Kagome nodded, before settling in beside the older girl. They introduced themselves properly, as Hinata and Neji Hyuuga, they were cousin's and seemed to be extremely close. As they talked, Kagome found out that Hinata liked Cinnamon buns to the point of being rabid, while Neji did not…in fact Neji didn't have a whole lot to say. And Kagome wasn't certain if this was because he disliked her or if it was because he just didn't have anything to say.

"Nee, Kagome? Will your dad get mad at you?" Hinata asked, worried for her new friend.

"No….I misplace daddy a lot." Kagome replied.

Neji quirked an eyebrow….she kept saying that, "What do you mean?"

"Oh….Daddy says I get lost a lot…but I think I just misplace him."

Neji tried not to choke at this comment, while Hinata broke out into helpless giggles. Even the older Hyuuga's broke into small amused chuckles, Neji still not sure what to make of this asked, "In what way?"

"Well, like the time I tripped into a crate thingy and got shipped to the bad side of town and met Lee and Naruto and Banky. Or the time I met Shino….or Kiba….Kiba had to carry me to daddy….I don't think he has daddy scenes."

"Daddy scenes?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah….Spiderman has Spidy senses so don't Daddy's have Daddy senses?" Kagome asked, she'd gotten to watch the movie several days ago when she spent the night a Choji's with Shikamaru.

The muffled laughter of Hiashi and his twin grew, children really did say the darnedest things. Neji stared….that made a lot of sense…. His mom definitely had momma senses…she always knew when he was trying to sneak out to the Dojo.

Kagome suddenly grinned, before flying off tackling a tall boy with a pineapple hair style.

"Gah, Kagome…you're so troublesome….you saw me like yesterday." Shikamaru complained, before the weight was gone reattaching to Choji.

Choji just smiled, in amusement Kagome had clambered onto his back and seemed perfectly content to stay there. "Maybe I like Choji more than!" Kagome pouted.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, before waving at the Hyuuga cousin's "Well are you going to watch the Fireworks with us?" He asked.

The two youngster's looked up toward their father's who nodded, there would be no harm in sticking around.

"Kagome….how….why?" Asuma sighed, scratching his head. Damn, he looked like a bad father. Kagome was always sneaking of to go do or see something, anything that might get her into trouble or lost.

"I'm sorry I misplaced you daddy." Kagome replied with an amused grin on her small cute innocent looking face.

"You misplaced me?" Asuma asked, unsure how to feel about this new…..development.

"Yay..." Kagome grinned, she'd squirmed down from Choji's back and was happily rolling back and forth in the grass, seemingly mindlessly and heedless of her kimono.

"Kagome…..did Gai give you sugar before I picked you up today?"

"Hai, hai, hai, hai!"

Asuma groaned in agony, he was going to kill that blasted spandex suited idiot. Most of the parents glanced at him with sympathy.

"Kagome, stop rolling…you're going to mess up your kimono."

"Pfft, Daddy you know I don't mess up clothes." Kagome cheered, finally settling in between Choji and Shikamaru again. Who had settled on a picnic blanket, they were joined by Neji and Hinata, and the four tried to keep up with Kagome's hyper-excitement.

Asuma could only sigh in relief when the Fireworks started going off, completely taking up Kagome's attention. He would never allow Gai to babysit again….never, never ever again.

Edited: 9/12/2012


	8. Lotion

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto, and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess, BloodChery

Thank you, dear!

Is there a specific something you guys want to see in this story? If so drop me an email I'll add it to the list, I plan on trying to update more often. I would also like to ask all of you who are reading and not reviewing, to please review! Those of you who do review, well you guys make me squeal in joy when I see I get a review so Thankies. Love you all, Scribe!

Chapter 8

**Lotion**

"Kagome are you ready?" Asuma called, waiting.

"Nooo, I wanna play with Shikamaru and Choji, daddy." Kagome pouted after she'd finally managed to put the strange outfit on.

"Shikamaru and Choji are going to be there, as is Naruto, Lee, Neji and Hinata. All six of them are going to be there."

"What about Shino, Kiba and Bankotsu?" Kagome asked, those big blue eyes seemed to brim with tears.

"Shino and his bugs don't like water, and Kiba might be there I believe Hana said she planned on bringing him. And you know were Lee and Naruto goes Bankotsu goes." Asuma sighed, he had no idea how the kids had managed to manipulate everyone into going to the Konoha beach area. It was usually empty, but this was the end of summer all of Kagome's friends were starting the Academy in the next few weeks and he knew she was feeling left out. He was thinking about allowing her to start early she was going to be five in a few months.

"Fine… but do I have to wear this? It feels funny." Kagome frowned.

Asuma snickered, after hanging out with Shikamaru and his father so often his monkey had been getting more articulate. "Yes, you have to wear a swimsuit. What's wrong with it?" Asuma looked over the small blue two-piece swimsuit. It was a light blue color with small green frogs and colored fish swimming inside a blue pool, the top tied around the back of her neck, and stopped in the middle of her stomach, while the bottoms just looked like regular panties… at least to him anyway.

"I feel naked, I love Auntie Shouko… but I don't like being so naked." Kagome sighed, "Onward!"

Asuma snorted, his sister in law did indeed enjoy dressing Kagome up, much like a doll. Then again his younger brother, Akihiko would just grin before stealing his daughter and cuddling her, not that Kagome minded. Misato was the one all the grandchildren went to for stories and such, how his calm eldest brother ended up with the hyper active Shouko he didn't know.

"Alright, alright, onward." Asuma swung the small girl up on his shoulders, she giggled happily sitting on her father's shoulders.

Once the two of them arrived at the beach, Kagome made a beeline straight toward Bankotsu before tackling the boy, knocking the two of them over into the sand. "Hi…"

Bankotsu blinked, "Kagome?"

"Hi," The girl grinned at the older boy, she didn't know why but she adored him.

"What was that about?" Bankotsu finally asked.

Kagome pouted, "I hadn't seen you or Lee since you blew up the mean old man's pants."

Lee groaned, he didn't even want to think about that particular moment. He'd never been so embarrassed, amused or humiliated in his life.

Naruto started to break down laughing, "That was so great… you know I didn't know stink bombs could blow up like that," the little blond continued to howl in amusement.

"Are you going to get off now? I wanna swim." Bankotsu finally asked, he didn't mind the smaller girl hanging on him but he wasn't entirely sure she knew how to swim.

Kagome pouted, before stepping down onto the sand, it was an odd feeling… all weird and squishy and wet… not only that but the water looked gross… at least compared to the pool she'd been to several days ago with Shikamaru and Choji. Looking around she could see Hinata and Neji having a water fight… while the younger girl was shy, it was easy to see that Hinata was just a little competitive… and she seemed to be winning. Naruto was swimming around like a fish in his extremely bright day glow orange trunks, while Lee was happily jumping off one of the docks farther out. Kiba and Akamaru were just floating… well Kiba was floating and Akamaru was sitting on his stomach. Hana had left apparently she'd seen a really good friend of hers so she'd gone to speak with him for a little bit.

Kagome sighed, she wasn't sure she wanted to get in this water puffing her cheeks up, she grinned when she saw Shikamaru he was sitting in the shade nearby. Grabbing the bucket her daddy had brought to build a sand castle with, she bent down and scoped up a lot of the water.

Snickering happily, she slowly walked making sure not to step on anything too loudly before dumping the whole bucket full of water on her friends head. Shikamaru yelped as his nice comfortable nap was broken by a large amount of extremely cold water, looking toward the source he huffed Kagome was just standing there grinning like an idiot.

"What was that for?" Shikamaru whined.

Kagome pouted, "You looked hot, and you're still pink."

The boy blinked, before groaning "I think that's sunburn."

"How did you get burned by the sun? I mean… you always lay in the sun, why would it burn you now?" Kagome's head tilted to the side as she studied the boy.

Shikamaru nearly choked on his own laughter, he really did forget how young she was sometimes, "I've been here for about three hours."

Kagome blinked, "That didn't splain anything."

A loud groan came from a frustrated throat, "Okay… the sunlight has stuff in it that makes everything work, okay?" Seeing her nod Shikamaru continued, "Sometimes if you stay in the sun for too long without that white lotion the adults put on us it bothers our skin."

"Ah… 'Kay." Kagome thought about it, so there was stuff in the sun that hurt people? "Can it kill you?"

"I don't know." Shikamaru grumbling, wishing she would go away.

Kagome pouted, "But you know like everything."

"I don't know everything… I just know a lot more than you," he responded, before jumping when she plopped down beside him.

Rolling her eyes, Kagome turned on her knees while digging through the bag her father had left nearby.

Shikamaru was positive his eyes were going to bug out when one of his few female friends turned around on her hands and knees all he could see was butt and it made him feel extremely uncomfortable. "Kagome what are you doing?"

"Getting that white stuff." Kagome grinned, when she turned back around with the tub of lotion.

"What are you going to do?" Shikamaru could feel his inner troublesome meter running up.

Then she pounced, the shuffle ended when Kagome settled on Shikamaru's stomach and the boy groaned, very much thankful that she hadn't landed on his stuff… that would have hurt a lot more than when Naruto managed to hit him there with a water balloon. "Troublesome," he knew from experience when to retreat at least, that's what he told himself when she began rubbing the white lotion into his cheeks.

Asuma grinned in amusement, he'd been watching the two of them for the last several minutes and he had to wonder why Kagome was so very drawn to the lazy Nara boy… though with her collection of friends he really shouldn't be too terribly surprised.

"You know… in about ten years he'd going to want her to do that." Asuma commented, and took a sick pleasure in watching Shikaku go pale.

"I'm not ready for hormones Asuma." Shikaku grumbled, troublesome Sarutobis.

Asuma just continued his snickering, before something well really someone caught his eye, dark black hair and sharp red eyes… and a lovely figure. _No! Don't think about it Asuma, you're a dad you don't need to think about a woman._ Shaking the thoughts that was running through his mind, before once again breaking into laughter as Kagome seemed to be smothering Shikamaru in lotion. "Kagome you have to rub it in until it disappears!" Asuma shouted.

"Damn it, don't help her!" Shikaku glared.

Asuma simply grinned, "Just get used to it, Shikaku." With that Asuma settled on his chair looking over the beach allowing him to watch his own child, as well as the others. It would be fun on his part to watch all of them grow up… they just had to get Shino swimming first.

Edited: 9/2/2012


	9. Thoughs of a Scarecrow

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: BloodCherry, Romantic Princess

Thank you, Ladies!

**AN: I would like to apologize for taking so long for getting another chapter up, and I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

Chapter 9

**Thoughts of a Scarecrow**

Kagome grinned at the soaked Kakashi, she didn't feel the least little bit bad at seeing his broom styled hair falling down around his ears. Giggling helplessly, the squeals and yells of laughter only grew as Kakashi yanked the little girl up into his arms and promptly began to tickle her mercilessly.

Kakashi grinned, he knew that Naruto had probably helped Kagome set up the small trap and he could have completely bypassed it altogether by going in threw the window but it was so much more fun to see two bright and grinning faces versus keeping dry. Then again, if it weren't for Asuma's little girl he wouldn't be able to get within three feet of Minato's little boy unless he was on rotation for ANBU, the council had denied him time and time again right to the little boy. He thought back to the prior months, they had certainly been more enjoyable than the last few.

_Two months ago he and a chunin by the name of Kurenai Yuhi had been called into the Hokage's office only to see a small little girl sitting in the old man's lap. _

"_Scarecrow!" The little girl cried, a grin on her face before she promptly tried to tackle him._

_Kakashi snatched her up before she could make contact with his knees and settled the girl on his hip. "Kagome, I've told you, call me Kakashi." There was a bemused expression on the silver haired man's face while Kurenai and the Hokage could only look on with amusement._

"_But I like scarecrow better." Kagome pouted, if she started calling him Kashi, then she would have to stop calling Gai spanda… and that was never going to happen._

"_Ahem." Sarutobi smiled when the attention was once more brought back to him, "I'm sure the two of you are wondering why you're here? Well, it's simple really, Kagome wants to be in the same class with the majority of her friends, as such she'll need a tutor to help her accomplish this goal. I would like to ask the two of you to take turns, this will really only be a D or C rank mission, because it has a dual purpose."_

"_Dual purpose?" Kurenai asked curious, but was slightly distracted by the fact that Sharingan Kakashi, the ninja of 1,000 jutsu was letting a four or five year old child climb on his shoulders and play with his hair._

_Sarutobi's face became sullen, "Yes, Kagome's mother has recently been reported trying to pay certain ninjas to kidnap Kagome and bring her back to Minoa. There's also the fact that several enemies to myself and her father, now have information about my sweet little granddaughter and she now needs a guard, and as much as I would like to give this to ANBU, I cannot."_

_Kakashi frowned, "Have there been any threats?" The question come out uneven, but then again, Kakashi could only grimace as Kagome began to braid his short silver hair… apparently his hair gel couldn't stand up to Kagome's tenacity about braiding hair._

"_Yes, I know that both of you will be forced to take on other missions besides watching Kagome, but you're the last two people I've spoken to this about. Genma, Hayate and Yugao have all also agreed to help watch her, and I didn't really need to ask Gai… he seems to be a bit love struck."_

_Kurenai nodded, "I don't mind… this will help me get a genin team when I become Jonin, right?"_

_Kakashi sighed before finally flipping the little girl off his shoulders to hold her in a football position at his side, she was giggling maniacally. "Does this include the number of friends that she often has around her?"_

"_Yes." _

_Both ninja nodded, Kurenai took a look brief look at Kakashi before using the shushin no jutsu to flicker away though it did stop the rest of those left in the room from hearing the laughter raising up before she disappeared in a whirlwind of flowers._

"_I accept as well then." Kakashi looked down at the girl who was still grinning up at him, before placing her on the ground and using the shushin no jutsu to go to his apartment… he had a feeling it was going to take him awhile to get the braids out, and he wasn't about to go on patrol with braided hair._

_Sarutobi finally broke down cackling, if only Minato or Sakumo could see their boy with that mass of braids. He'd been lucky to get a picture of it, "Kagome?"_

"_Hai, jiji?" The little girl looked up freezing in the process of climbing back into her grandfather's lap._

"_I want you to braid Kakashi's hair as often as possible." Sarutobi grinned, pulling his granddaughter the rest of the way into his lap._

"_Why?" Kagome asked making herself comfortable to color on some of her grandfathers completed paperwork._

"_Hmm, think of it as a ninja mission." _

"_Okay!" Kagome grinned, happily. The ninja who was forced to file said paperwork at the end of the day was not amused by the random squiggles across the paper, when he made a complaint the ninja was informed that if the Hokage had to stamp all that crap they could deal with a little crayola._

Kakashi frowned, he'd never been so embarrassed to go into work… he'd had wavy hair the rest of the day and he'd been unable to get one of the braids undone. It had taken nearly a month and a lot of threats to get his fellow ANBU to leave him the hell alone about it. Shaken from his thoughts, he watched as the little girl yawned sleepily, "Sleepy… Kashi."

A slow smile ran across his face, if Asuma had never come back he would never have been able to get close to Naruto. And it was a relief in his heart to know that he could take care and watch over the boy like Minato had done after his own father had passed on, it made the past a little bit easier to deal with… having someone to care and watch over.

"Alright, let's go to sleep." Kakashi began to move, picking her up he grabbed a sleeping Naruto and maneuvered the two of them onto Kagome's bed. Smiling, he settled into one of the chairs in the girl's room and began to doze of himself… he wondered if this was what it was like to have a family again.

Edited: 9/3/2012


	10. Leaves of Fall

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

Chapter 10

**Leaves of Fall**

Kagome grinned as she looked up at the woman who'd been teaching her along with all the others who had decided to help her learn what she would need to get into the class with Shikamaru and Choji and the others.

The woman who was with her today was the prettiest at least to Kagome anyway, she had pretty red eyes but the interesting thing was that they were two different colors of red. One was dark and it was the inner ring and the inside was a darker red almost like the color of blood. Her hair was really pretty with its soft waviness, it was black like her daddies, but her skin looked more like the cream Kagome sometimes set out for some of the neighborhood cats.

"Kurenai?" Kagome looked up her bright blue eyes looking toward the woman sitting nearby.

"Yes, Kagome?" Kurenai asked, standing before walking toward the kitchen table where the girl was working on her mathematics.

"Can we go outside and play for a little bit please? I've been doing my homework all day… I wanna play." Kagome pouted, she'd done all her written homework except the stupid math stuff.

"I suppose so, you have studied very well today… Yugao and Hayate won't be here for a few hours." Kurenai smiled, the little girl really was adorable. She'd also been asked by the Hyuuga clan to walk with the two youngsters they currently had attending the ninja academy. She usually picked up Kagome in the morning, they walked the Hyuugas' to the school, they returned home to go over Kagome's studies. She generally finished around 12, then they ate and Kagome had an hour brake to spend time playing or sometimes going to harass Shikamaru and her friends at the academy.

Kagome squealed happily, before running to her room to change she usually wore shorts and a t-shirt in the house but it was becoming chilly in Konoha. Pulling on a regular pair of jeans, she grinned they were nice and comfortable they were also extremely faded because they got washed very often. Grumbling, she climbed up on the small step ladder she began to go through her long sleeve shirts. Finding one that was just a nice green color she pulled it out including her gray jacket, pulling her clothing on she looked in the mirror, something was missing!

Her eyes lit up before she shot out of her room to the small coat hanger near the door, climbing up another few steps her dad had put up for her she grabbed the beany she'd begged her daddy for, it was a light brown and looked like the top of a deer's head with eyes, and with ears, and really tiny nubs making tiny antlers poking up from her head, she thought it was the cutest thing ever. Yoshino, Shikamaru's mom agreed with her, "Neee, Kurenai do I look okay?" Kagome asked.

"Well, putting some boots on over those socks might be a good idea." The older woman chuckled when Kagome shot back toward her room before reappearing with some small black boots on.

"Let's go, let's go!" Kagome grabbed the woman's hand tugging happily she so desperately wanted to get out of the house.

"Hold on, Kagome." Kurenai chuckled, before closing the door and locking it.

The two walked toward the park, Konoha really was different in fall there was a mass of colors running around the tops of the trees, varying shades of red, from yellow to orange and the occasional brilliant purple popping out here and there.

Blinking, Kagome grinned the gardener of the park had made his rounds and there were several large and impressive piles of leaves. Grinning she promptly did the thing any little child did, she eyed the largest pile and jumped right in.

Kurenai could only watch in amusement, as Kagome played in her large pile of leaves. The little girl was a lot like a kitten, curious and playful with an eye for the smallest of movements.

"Shikamaru… why are you here?" Kagome asked, she was sitting in her pile of leaves her little beany had several leaves nestled between the small antlers and ears, and there were leaves in her thick hair as well.

Shikamaru smiled slightly at his friend, "We were let out early… I should have known you'd be here."

"I was studying all day." She looked up at her friend before grabbing his hand and yanking his down onto the ground with her.

Shikamaru huffed, when he found himself being yanked down on Kagome, rolling over he only rolled his eyes when she rolled with her skinny arms had already snaked around him and she was snuggled down happily against his side. "Troublesome." Instead of trying to move away, he simply pulled his arms behind his head and began to stare at the clouds.

Blinking, at the odd movements at his side he looked down to see Kagome fiddling with his hoody's zipper. "What's bugging you?"

Kagome grumbled, "Daddy's been away awhile."

"He'll be fine." Shikamaru responded, calmly… she was clingy and he wasn't sure she would be Kagome without being clingy.

Kurenai grinned, Kagome was anything except predictable… that and she was adorable snuggled up against that Nara boy. "Soo, she's dragged him into leaves this time?"

Kurenai grinned, seeing Asuma standing next to her "You're home early."

"Yeah. I must have the luck of a saint, I always get to see the cute stuff." Asuma grinned, before waving the woman over with him to one of the park benches. The two adults simply watched as the two children continued to talk together, a grin on both their faces.

Edited: 9/3/2012


	11. Halloween Date

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**UPDATE: Doglands has been removed from lack of voters this choice will not change.**

Chapter 11

Kagome sighed, as she looked up at her aunt she had odd bright blue green eyes and softly curled sandy colored hair. Shouko was really nice, but sometimes she just wanted to run away from the older woman especially when she got extremely excited.

"So what's this hallow stuff about?" Kagome asked looking up at her daddy.

Asuma grinned, "It's called Halloween, and it's a western tradition that was picked up here because it was fun for the children."

"Oh… why?" Kagome asked.

Asuma shook his head, "Because the children get to dress up and eat candy."

"We're getting candy? What about pocky?" Kagome asked.

Asuma shook his head, before pulling Kagome's costume down a little more, "Someone will more than likely be giving out pocky. Along with Kasugai's and several others."

"Okay…but why do I have to dress up?" Kagome asked a pout on her lips.

Asuma just chuckled, "You'd look a little odd when everyone else was dressed up if you weren't."

Kagome huffed, "Do I really have to go?"

Both Sarutobi's looked toward the door as it was opened it was Kurenai, in the last few months Asuma and one of Kagome's caregivers had gotten closer and closer as friends and he hoped they would eventually be something more.

"Kagome I thought you said, your dad and I could go on a date?" Kurenai asked, softly.

Kagome pouted more, "You can I just don't wanna walk around like this… Shikamaru and Choji are going to laugh."

Kurenai looked over the outfit she recognized it as something that Shouko would pick out the woman loved anime and manga just as much as the children did. And Sailor moon wasn't something that would entertain or draw Kagome's attraction right away because she would think that the main character was weak.

Instead she'd dressed the girl up to look like Sailor Jupiter… it had been a long time since she herself had watched anything like it but she still recognized the main characters.

The tunic was completely white, while her skirt and collar were Jupiter's signature forest green, small pink earrings were resting on Kagome's pierced ears while those little green boots were really cute.

"I think you look fine Kagome, and I doubt Shikamaru or Choji would laugh at you… they care about you too much." Kurenai smiled, before tucking a strand of hair behind Kagome's ear. "Come on, Asuma and I will drop you off at Yoshino's house okay?"

Kagome stared up at the older woman as if measuring everything that she had to say before answering, "Okay… but you promise to come back a pick me up?"

Kurenai grinned, "That should be fine."

Asuma chuckled, before holding out a hand to Kurenai to help her from her bended position, which was one of the things he liked about the younger woman. She always treated Kagome nicely no matter the reason, "Are we ready to go?"

"Hai!" Kagome finally nodded a little relieved.

Pulling Kagome into his arms, Asuma had to fight off a grin when Kurenai took the arm he offered. He had the two best girls in the village by his side and there wasn't much more that could make him happy.

"Asuma! Kurenai, this is a nice surprise." Yoshino grinned when she opened the door, "And how are you Kagome?"

"I feel silly." The dark haired girl replied.

Yoshino chuckled, "I'm sure, come on in."

Kagome squirmed down to hunt down both Choji and Shikamaru, and ask them about the costume her daddy hadn't let her watch "Sailor Moon" because he thought it was too perverted… or at least the version showing right now was anyway.

"Ah, we can't Yoshino, I promised Kurenai a date." Asuma grinned.

Yoshino chuckled, "Keep him in line, Kurenai. At least he's not as lazy as Shikaku."

Both adults waved, before breaking into a long conversation about Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Thankfully they had more in common than a job, they both enjoyed the same movies and music thought Kurenai had to admit she felt disappointed in him when she caught him reading Icha Icha Paradise one evening. When she asked, he had just laughed looking a little sheepish replying he was a little scared of dating because he didn't want to make the mistake of going out with someone who wouldn't like Kagome so he'd prefer to read a book than take the chance.

Kurenai had to admit to falling a little bit in love with the blushing chain smoker at that response, before promptly asking him out on a date. Asuma had blushed a little more before nodding yes, and that was how they'd ended up here at a lovely little restaurant. Needless to say she had been forced to hogtie Anko to keep the younger woman from interfering in her date, she also asked Yugao for back up.

When it was all said and done she was extremely pleased with everything that had happened during the night, "Asuma… I really enjoyed tonight."

"I did to. I just hope Kagome had a good time… thought I almost feel sorry for the boys she probably wore them ragged." Asuma replied, as they began to near the Nara household.

Kurenai had to chuckle amused, "True…"

"Kurenai! Daddy!" Kagome squealed in delight before being pulled up into her father's arms.

"Did you have fun Kagome?" Kurenai asked, looking toward the small girl.

Kagome nodded in amusement, "Yea… but… Shika and Choji feel asleep while we were waiting so I stayed up until you got here but now I'm all sleepy." The ebony haired child yawned widely as if to emphases that she was more than a little tired.

Kurenai laughed softly, as she watched the girl snuggle down against her father's hip before yawning. "I suppose she needs to get to bed."

"Yeah, I'll walk you home first." Asuma replied easily as he followed his date. It was something his mother had made sure of before her death, all her son's would have good manners.

"Thank you for walking me to my door Asuma." Kurenai turned, a grin in place.

"Hmm no probmmmmm," Asuma was responding when a set of lips locked with his and he didn't really want to break away. Lifting a hand he cupped the nap of her neck to kiss her more deeply while readjusting his daughter so she stayed comfortable.

"We'll do this again, okay?" Kurenai smiled, before opening her door and shutting it gently.

Asuma blinked, before flickering home, oh yeah he was going to have to go out with her again.


	12. Snow Man

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you for helping!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like several reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 12

**Snow Man**

"Shikamaru?" Kagome asked looking up at the sky. It was amazing there was this white stuff falling down and it was really pretty but cold.

"Ah?" Shikamaru replied, looking up into the sky. The clouds were pretty dark and stormy, it was pretty.

"What's this white stuff?" Kagome asked, curious.

Shikamaru blinked before looking at the girl beside him, she was staring up at the sky as if she'd never seen it before. Those impossibly blue eyes of hers were wider than he'd ever seen them, and he was surprised at the question.

"It's snow." He finally replied before taking her hand and began to drag her out of it.

"Snow? Does it happen a lot?" Kagome asked, curious. Minoa was much further south than Konoha, and because of it she'd never seen or even heard of the white snow.

He sighed, slightly frustrated, "Nope… just during the winter like this…"

Kagome frowned, following at a slower pace. This wasn't something she'd ever seen before and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Shikamaru, Kagome… why are you just standing in the snow?" Choji asked, catching them coming around the corner.

Shikamaru shrugged, "She's going really slow."

"I've never seen it before… snow… it's really pretty, do we have to go in?" Kagome asked, she really wanted to play in it. She wondered if she could make a snow castle, like she had made a sand castle at the beach.

Shikamaru and Choji shrugged, it wasn't like they could stop her. When Kagome made up her mind it was like trying to reason with a donkey. "Sure."

"Yay!" Kagome promptly began to poke and prod the snow amazed and amused by the way it moved and came together.

Choji snickered, "Have you ever made a snow angel?"

Kagome blinked, before shaking her head sending the snow that was stuck to her hair flying away and around.

Shikamaru groaned, before just laying down in the snow. All of them were pretty much in water proof clothing so there was no chance of getting really badly wet. He put a small amount of effort into making a snow angel and sighed when Kagome plopped down beside him sending a small amount of snow onto his chest.

Choji laughed, before grabbing Shikamaru's hands and pulling him out of his snow angel mold he did the same for Kagome who was giggling like mad when she was finished.

"That's neat!" Kagome smiled amused.

"We can always make a snow person." Choji replied.

Kagome frowned, "A snow person?"

"It's also called a snowman…" Shikamaru drawled out… he'd made them before, he was always wrangled into it at least three of four times a year.

"Oh… how do you make one?" Kagome asked confused.

Choji smiled, "You make a snowball and start rolling it around. When it gets nice a big you stop, you do that three more times each one smaller than the last then you stick them together." When he finished he could only laugh at her confused expression. "How about Shikamaru and I just show you?"

"Okay." She replied with a grin.

Kagome watched as Shikamaru seemed frustrated by being pulled into it, while Choji was laughing and teasing the taller boy.

"Okay the bottom part is done!" Choji replied, they'd been rolling the small ball back and forth across the small clearing. It was now nice and big, and plump… really plump.

"I'll try." Kagome grinned, the two boys watched the girl going back and forth and they had to stop themselves from laughing. It was slowly becoming an egg shape instead of a circle, it was going to be interesting trying to get it onto the large snowball. "Okay!"

Choji and Shikamaru laughed before picking up the compacted snow egg and putting the pointed end down into the larger fat snowball at the bottom. "Let us do the last one Kagome…" Choji grinned.

"Go find some rocks and two long sticks." Shikamaru grinned at the confused look on her face before she wondered off to do as he'd said.

"Think we should tell her she did it wrong?" Choji asked looking at the odd egg shape.

Shikamaru snorted, "Nah… it's just Kagome she does things at her own beat."

Choji laughed, before putting the smallest snow ball on top. "Okay…"

"I got the stuff… but why do you need it?" Kagome asked a frown on her face.

Shikamaru chuckled, "Choji will want to decorate it."

"Decorate?" Kagome asked, her head turned slightly to the side.

"Yeap!" Choji grinned, before pulling the girl with him to cover the snowman in small stones and two stick arms.

When they were finished Kagome only giggled, "I think I like snow person better... man's not right."

Shikamaru snorted, "Yeah yeah, come on… your nose is turning red and mom will be mad at me if you get sick. I'll see you later Choji." Waving at his friend, he could only grunt when Kagome scrambled up onto his back so she wouldn't have to walk. No one believed him when he said Kagome was just as lazy as he was but maybe he was the only one that she was going to show.

Choji laughed, before running home he knew that Kagome was lazy but to see her in action was always funny.

"Shika?"

"Ah?"

"I liked today… but I think I like watching the snow better than playing in it." Kagome muttered behind his ear, before pressing the cold red nose against his neck.

Shikamaru shuddered at the nose, before nodding, "Me to, Kagome. Me to." He could hear her starting to yawn then again Kagome often took naps at his home and it was about that time so it wasn't surprising.

"Shikamaru, what were you two doing? You're completely soaked…" Yoshino frowned before ushering the two inside.

"Choji wanted to make a snowman, and he roped Kagome and me into it." Shikamaru yawned, before letting Kagome onto her feet.

Yoshino shook her head before striping both of them down to nothing but their underwear and ushering them into Shikamaru's room to put on warm clothing. When they were both covered, Shikamaru in his pajamas, and Kagome in some of his older stuff they were wrapped up in a blanket and put in front of the fire. Needless to say it didn't take any time at all for the two of them to nod off into sleep.

Edited: 9/3/2012


	13. Cold Nights

I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

**blue: **I agree that this story is going a little slow, but I'm having fun with it while I still can when I get to cannon and an older age drama shall start to unfold. But for anyone wondering there will probably be 12 chapters for a year until Kagome is about ten.

Chapter 13

Kagome groaned, as she continued to keep her eyes closed it was cold and it was late at night her Daddy was on another mission and she was staying with Shikamaru again. He was one of her favorite people to stay with when her Daddy was out of town.

Yawning she shivered again before she snuck out of her bed, normally she was just fine staying in the bedroom. But the whole room was freezing it had never been this cold at the Nara household before and she really didn't understand except that it was cold and that Shikamaru was always hot.

She didn't know why but her friend always had a fever, so he had to have a really high fever to get away with being sick. At least according to Shika, he had tried and his mom had gotten really mad calling him a lazy ass, but she thought that was just how Yoshi did things.

Giggling softly she walked down the hall way quietly, it was almost like Christmas. She'd never had a Christmas before she'd come to Konoha, she gotten presents from her friends and family, and she'd gotten to pick out things for her friends to. Her favorite had to be a really super long scarf that Shikamaru had gotten her, it was a soft and fluffy and there was a little deer at each end of it that matched her beanie deer hat.

Grinning she pulled the sheets of Shika's bed back, she watched him twitch before he opened his eyes to stare at her. She simply grinned before climbing in with him, and glomping him.

Shikamaru grunted when Kagome practically fell on top of him, in some weird twisted version of a hug. He simply watched when she squirmed and pulled the sheets then the comforter back onto his bed, when he finally felt her cheek, hand and feet against his skin he understood why. She was shivering like crazy because she was cold as hell.

"Why are you so cold?" Shikamaru finally asked, before rolling on top of his friend resting his cheek on her forehead even that was cold which wasn't right. Humans and animals lost heat through the top of their heads,

"Don't know… something is wrong. The whole house is cold." Kagome replied, shivering beneath him. "Ah, where are you going?"

"Stay in bed. I'll be back in a minute," Shikamaru told her, and giving her a look that clearly told her that she wasn't to get out of bed. At seven he felt he had more authority than he had when he'd been six, "Promise?"

Kagome huffed, before squirming down further inside Shikamaru's bed. Shikamaru heard her return with a muffled promise of her own, sometimes that was the only way anyone could get her to do anything they her friends wanted her to. She was as stubborn as his mom but she didn't get mad if he did something lazy. She would just lay on him and tease him about it.

Walking toward his parents room he realized what she was talking about, it really was a lot colder in his house than normal. Shivering lightly, he popped open the door to his mom and dad's room, moving to his dad's side of the bed he sighed and wished he was taller so it wasn't such a big climb or that his parents didn't like western furniture so much.

Finally getting on top of the bed he sighed, "Dad, dad wake up." Huffing he continued to shake the older man. "Dad, Dad come on… get up." He felt himself become worried, "Dad... dad… dad!" Shikamaru could tell he was getting louder and let out a slight sigh of relief when his dads eyes finally opened.

"Shikamaru, go back to bed." Shikaku stared, up as his son he was straddling his waist and giving him a frustrated look that he often saw on Yoshino's face.

"Shika-kun, why are you up sweetie?" Yoshino asked, a concerned look on her face. Shikamaru almost never got the two of them up, for any reason he usually took care of himself.

"It's cold… colder than normal… Kagome dragged her blanket, climbed in with me is wrapped up in her blanket and under my covers and the house is cold to me too." Shikamaru finally replied, shivering lightly. Shikamaru was in long johns there was absolutely no reason for him to be cold.

Shikaku frowned, "Stay in bed with your mother." The elder Nara replied, walking toward Shikamaru's room he pulled back the covers and chuckled when Kagome yelped loudly, before pulling the girl into his arm, he could feel small skinny arms wrapped around his neck.

"Shikaku…?" Kagome blinked, those bright blue eyes completely focused on his face. When recognition set in he could only chuckle when she snuggled down against his chest, "What's wrong?"

"I dunno yet, but you're going to bed with Shika and Yoshino." Shikaku replied, he nearly froze when a cold nose pressed against his neck. "Jeez you are cold, kid." He felt her huff against his neck, and he couldn't stop the chuckle that left his mouth.

"Shikamaru was cold… that's when I knew something was wrong." Kagome replied, pulled away to look at his face.

Shikaku chuckled, "He really is always warm, isn't he?" A slow grin of love slipped across his face.

Kagome grinned, "Yeah." She promptly hugged the elder Nara's face before nuzzling his cheek.

Shikaku felt himself blush, darn adorable kid… she was totally infecting his way of life and he didn't really want to put up a resistance. Sighing, he walked back into the master bed room Shikamaru was wrapped up against his mother and Shikaku had to admit he was a little worried seeing Shikamaru that cold and willing snuggled up against his mother.

"Here, have another invader Yoshi." Shikaku handed the small girl to Yoshino and almost smirked when she happily snuggled down between the two not that Shikamaru even tried to stop the girl.

"I'm going to check the heating and cooling unit, K?" Shikaku waved, lightly before heading downstairs. Walking toward the back of the house, he opened the door to the utility room before pulling picking up a flashlight that he kept on the counter. Opening, the door he swore when he found what he was looking for the coolant had gone a little crazy and it was blowing cold air. He sighed, this wasn't something he could fix tonight.

Turning the light off, he placed the portable light back on the counter before shutting the door and heading back. When he arrived in his room, both Kagome and Shikamaru were fast asleep.

"What was wrong?"

"Our coolant fluid went a little crazy… it's been blowing cold air all night. I can't do anything about it tonight, I'll give the company a call in the morning." Shikaku replied, slipping into bed. Pulling his wife close he twitched when Kagome's cold nose connected with his neck again, he had no idea how the four year old managed to move so much at night. "Good night, Yoshino."

He heard a soft chuckle and reply, "Good night, Shikaku." It didn't take them anytime at all to all be sound asleep and warm as could. Several years later, Yoshino would embarrass her husband in front of their grandchildren with a picture of a young Kagome and Shikamaru both happily snuggled down against Shikaku.


	14. Night Terrors

I don't own Naruto and Inu Yasha, Masashi Kinomoto or Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 14

**Night Terrors**

Gai sighed, looking over his cards he rarely won at these poker games but he enjoyed having time to spend with two of his dearest friends. "I fold."

"Man, Gai… you're doing worse than normal…" Asuma chuckled, softly looking at his friend.

Kakashi snorted, "Maybe it's cause he's not been youthful enough."

Gai rolled his eyes, "Soo… how is dating Kurenai going?"

Asuma blinked in surprised at the expectant glances from both his friends, "It's pretty good I mean Kagome likes Kurenai and Kurenai likes Kagome…"

"I think he meant on a dating level." Kakashi replied coolly, before he laid down his hand.

The two watched his eyes soften before a slow smile seemed to go across his lips, "Pretty good… she's been helping me stop smoking… so it's been pretty good."

"So that's why you're been asking me to watch her so often at night?" Kakashi asked, a small smirk on his face.

Gai rolled his eyes, "So how is that little dolphin you're interested in?"

"Dolphin?" Asuma asked, a light of amusement in his eyes.

"Haha… he's interested in this little chunin that starts blushing every time he comes round… they've gone out a few times… Kagome has met him," Gai finished, soft laughter escaped his throat at Kakashi's twitching.

"Leave Iruka alone… besides he teaches Naruto and Shikamaru… he's a nice guy…" Kakashi felt a faint blush run across his nose.

Asuma chuckled, "That's good then… I mean is he accepting of Naruto?"

Kakashi nodded, he'd recently gotten permission to get Naruto to live with him a lot of clan's had been displeased and civilians had looked at him with something close to what they had given his father. Those looks of betrayal as if he'd walked out to the other four hidden villages and given them a copy of their secrets. It was obvious that someone was letting secrets out of shinobu meetings…

"Yeah… they go out for a bowl of ramen after school and I join them when I can." Kakashi replied, wondering when they'd gotten around to talking about his love life.

All three men went completely still as a soft breathy sigh, seemed to float through the room and Asuma got up leaving his card on the table to look into his daughter's room. Kagome was face down into her pillow she was sniffling lightly as she squirmed, a small plush of a monkey was tucked under her body and she was shivering.

Then again he wasn't really surprised, Asuma had soon realized that his daughter would not keep still unless she was sleeping with someone. If Kagome wasn't sleeping with someone the sheets and covers usually ended up on the floor and she ended up being cold. Shaking his head, the young man picked the covers up off the floor and wrapped the girl up. Asuma was sure that the covers would be on the floor by morning and she would more than likely end up in bed with him or snuggled up to Kakashi if he slept on the couch.

As he walked toward the room he found them looking at him with unspoken questions, "She just knocked the covers off again… Kagome does that all the time, if she's sleeping with someone its not so bad. Kagome is usually completely still when sleeping with someone else, when she sleeps along my little monkey kicks and squirms all night."

Kakashi chuckled, "I heard she slept with Yoshino and Shikaku last time she was at their house."

Asuma nodded, "Yeah the air and heating unit went on the blitz… it started blowing cold air all night… he said he was really happy that the clan switched over to the unit. If they'd still been using a pilot light it would have been blowing in gas all night and could have killed them all."

"That's a scary thought, didn't he make suggestions that more households switch over?" Gai replied.

"Hmm yeah… I think it scared him more that Kagome and Shikamaru were in the house when it happened…" Asuma replied, he could understand the fears of being a parent and all the things that could and would go wrong. "Hey, Gai, is it true you're thinking about taking in the Lee boy?"

"Been thinking about it, if I take him in I'd have to take in Bankotsu too… those two are practically attached to the hips. That boy has the craziest strength I've ever seen, Aka Ishiro dropped his halberd nearly a week ago, Bankotsu picked it up like it was a hand bag." Gai simply shook his head at the thought.

Both Kakashi and Asuma looked surprised, "Doesn't that thing weight close to 500 pounds?" Kakashi finished.

"Yep… I ended up taking him to the hospital because that just wasn't normal you know? He's using his chakra like Lady Tsunade and he doesn't even know it… I've been thinking about putting them both through my training regime…" Gai continued to mumble ideas.

"You're not going to make them wear that green monstrosity you call clothing are you?" Kakashi asked.

Asuma sighed, "Anyway where is Naruto tonight?"

"Oh… he's with Ru for tonight." Kakashi stated absentmindedly, ignoring the looks of amusement.

They all paused again when soft whimpering could be heard, then soft pattering of feet could be heard before a dark head appeared in the hall way before continuing into the kitchen before a sad face looked up. They could see the tears that covered her cheeks, before Asuma reached to his side and pulled the girl into his chest.

"What's wrong sweetie?"

"Nightmare." Kagome voiced sounded, weak and weepy she had no idea that her father was grateful and relieved she'd never had one near Shikamaru or her other friends.

"Kay, guys I'll see you tomorrow." Asuma sighed, before walking into the back bed room to settle in for the night.

"Hmmm, I'll be at Ru's." Kakashi simply waved, he'd been woken by Kagome's upset cries of a nightmare before they were closer to terrors than any nightmare he'd seen.

Gai nodded before leaving, Asuma smiled weakly when he looked back before looking at his weeping daughter, and damned the woman who's hurt her so badly before he'd known about her. One day she would be forced to tell her friends if the rumors didn't begin to surround her… he and Kagome to an extent were very lucky that the people of Konoha had little problems with those of illegitimate birth.

Sighing, he removed his shirt and shoes and pants before slipping into bed with his precious cargo. Stroking her head he let her cry away, cuddling and nuzzling his chest, she was such a sweet thing he didn't understand what the woman had against her daughter. "I love you, sweetie."

"I love you to, daddy." Kagome replied, listening to her daddy's heart beat always calmed her down. It helped that he always rubbed her back and tried to make everything better again. Sighing in contentment sky blue eyes slipped closed while gentle arms held her close, to a large safe chest.

Edited: 9/3/2012


	15. Rivalry

I don't own Inu Yasha and Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 15

**Rivalry**

Kagome huffed looking at the space several feet in front of her, there were several types of targets to practice for kunai and shuriken this one in particular was shaped similarly to the human body with certain kills zones to aim for. The target was littered with the blunted metal objects that were used for practice that was one of the first things her daddy told her. That using your sharpened kunai was pointless if you weren't going to be a weapon master, at least during practice anyway.

It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, out of six rings she was staying in the two rings in the center with several on the outside or the inside. There were even two of her kunai in the center of the chest mark and that made her really happy. It might not be a perfect bulls eye but it was still very good in her mind.

Sharp brown eyes watched as the younger girl collected the weapons, she was a child really and at eight she considered most people half her age to be silly little brats. Then again this was the first time she'd seen someone that age try to practice with kunai.

"Hey… are you a stalker?"

The brown eyed girl blinked in surprise when she realized that the younger girl was talking to her, "Why would I stalk you?"

"I was just wondering… it's weird to have another kid watching…" Kagome gnawed on her bottom lip confused and frustrated.

The brown eyed girl rolled her eyes, "Yeah… you're not bad at weapons."

Kagome shrugged, "Yeah… so who are you?"

"Oh… Zhung Tenten." Tenten replied, eyeing her with something akin to amusement.

"I'm Sarutobi Kagome." Kagome bowed lightly, she might be a rambunctious little thing but she had taught her manners.

"Oh… the Hokage's granddaughter?" Tenten looked surprised, she'd heard rumors but very few people outside of clan circles had actually seen the girl.

Kagome nodded, before beginning to throw the kunai once again. Tenten deemed to watch, the only thing that she could really say was that the younger girl was really consistent. "Hmmm… what size kunai are you using?" Tenten finally asked.

"Oh…. like a 5… the practice ones don't come any smaller." Kagome replied easily, it was really frustrating, she wanted it in the center bulls eye!

Tenten nodded, "I think the reason you have a hard time hitting the center is because you're hand is too small for the practice blunts… most of your shuriken hit center."

Kagome blinked, "Thank you!" A smile appeared on her face that made her feel a lot better!

Tenten waved the thanks away, "Why are you training so hard anyway?" She had to admit she was curious about it.

"I want to be in class with my friends…" Kagome replied, she was so lonely and it made her sad that she could only see them for a few hours at a time. If she'd been at the academy with them she could at least have fun at recess or lunch!

Tenten snorted, "That's a stupid reason."

"It is not!" Kagome shouted, her face red with anger. "Shikamaru, Kiba and all my other friends are awesome! And I want to be with them."

Tenten rolled her eyes, "You're just like a little fan girl… girls like you don't amount to much not only that why would you even get to try to be in their class you're like three years younger than them!"

"I've been studying and training really hard!" Kagome huffed, fuming.

Tenten felt a small simmering of frustration come out, were all little kids this stubborn? "It's not like that's going to help in the long run!"

The almost five year old simmered angry, "Really? Then what are you studying that I'm not!?"

"Genjutsu, Taijutsu, to name a few!" Tenten replied.

"Kurenai teaches me Genjutsu and stuff like math and writing, Gai and Daddy teaches me Taijutsu and Kakashi and Daddy teach me Ninjutsu… I'm just as good as you guys!" Kagome replied.

Tenten scowled, "The only reason they do that is because you're the Hokage's granddaughter."

"I'll show you! I'll be the best Kunoichi of my class, and I'll be better than you to!"Kagome yelled, before stomping toward her target to gather her things.

Tenten laughed, "As if! You're way too small, and you'll always be behind me in experience because you're like four!" She promptly walked away fuming, there was no way that girly girl was going to be a better ninja then her.

Kagome watched, an angry look on her face as she gathered the kunai. That girl was going to be her rival and she was going to beat her into the ground. She was going to be a better genin, and she was definitely going to be a better ninja period!

Edited: 9/3/2021


	16. Laryngitis

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 16

**Laryngitis **

Kagome sniffled, she hated it. It was a chilly and windy day, not only that but she couldn't breathe very well and her throat hurt really badly. Sometimes she was coughing but the worse part about it was that she couldn't talk to anyone! And it was annoying!

Today was one of the days that Koaku was forced to watch over her because several of her normal watchers happened to be out of town. Her daddy was in town but he'd promised to help Kurenai with something. So she'd decided to see some of her friends. She had tried to talk to several of her friends today and had ended up in tears because no one knew what she was trying to say.

Akamaru had been the only one who'd even come close to understanding what she was trying to say! She was more than a little upset and that was mainly because the little puppy had more brain cells that Kiba ever had a chance of developing. Hinata had been on a sugar high from one to many cinnamon buns, and Neji had been forced to take the other girl back home.

Shino had apologized quietly, stating he was sorry that she couldn't speak and that he hadn't understood what she was trying to say. He'd eventually ended up giving her a large hug when tears had welled up in her eyes; that was what she liked about Shino. No matter how bad things go he would always be there for you.

Sniffling again she nearly jumped out of her skin when Choji popped up out of nowhere. "Hiya Kagome!"

Kagome turned before looking up into Choji's eyes, he seemed really happy and she had to wonder if his mother was trying out a new recipe for dinner. That was usually why he got really excited, that or he and Naruto had gotten to pig out at the Ramen Bar.

"Aww, Kagome what's wrong?" Choji asked, studying the small girl.

When she pointed to her throat and tried to signal that she had to be quiet, she noticed Choji frown, "Are you sick?"

Kagome thought about it, what she had wasn't contagious at least that's what her daddy had said, not that she really understood what contagious was. But she had been sick, and now she sounded funny when she managed to get her voice to do more than move air. Finally the small raven haired girl nodded, a frown on her face.

"Oh… can you talk?" The tubby boy continued, rubbing the small red swirl marks on his cheeks… she wouldn't ever say it but they reminded her of Naruto's whisper marks.

Kagome shook her head no sending the long mass of hair flying over her shoulders back and forth.

Choji frowned, "Ah do you have Laryngitis?"

Kagome sighed, she thought that was what it was called before nodding more frustrated than she had been when Hinata had been bouncing all over the place because of the cinnamon bun massacre. Kagome nodded, at least Choji understood what she was trying to say!

"Awww… so you can't speak at all?" Choji asked, when she responded by sighing again and making a small squeaking noise like a mouse he just couldn't hold in the little chuckle that escaped. He regretted it almost immediately as the small smile that had been on her face disappeared like no bodies business and she took off obviously upset. At least she was headed toward Shikamaru he usually knew how to deal with her when she was upset. As long as it wasn't too troublesome that is.

O

Shikamaru smiled lightly utterly content with the world, as the clouds passed by and he enjoyed the sounds of being outside. It had just gotten to the point that he could go outside and lay on the grass without it, being freezing or the grass covering him in stains and water.

The birds were chirping and he couldn't wait for it to be spring so he could listen to the cicadas and locus near a small river that he knew about. He should probably show Choji and Kagome that place, but it was his special place not even his dad could find him when he went there.

So when Kagome stomped up and simply sat down beside him, not saying a thing he knew something was wrong and that whatever it was just happened to be stewing along, and would continue to fester until she finally spoke up. It wasn't like she got into big tantrums or started yelling at people it was more along the lines that when she got mad, she got mad.

Shikamaru waited, and waited, and slowly became paranoid because Kagome had never been that angry before. But upon a closer inspection on her face, he could see that there were tears in those sky blues eyes and he wasn't sure what he was exactly supposed to do about it.

"So what's bugging you?" The glare he got sent a ripple down his spine, it was cold he could almost feel ice forming. Thinking back over the week he continued to notice the girls lack of speech, "You're not talking… so you're either mad or you can't." When she simply held up two fingers he grinned cheekily, a quiet Kagome… that was new.

"Hmmm…. you could be sick. But if you are it's not contagious or Asuma-san wouldn't let you out of the house." Shikamaru just broke out laughing when she pounced on him in frustration.

They ended rolling around in the grass and dirt for a long time before they both stopped, both of them were breathing deeply. Kagome simply because it was hard for her to breath with Laryngitis while Shikamaru was trying not to laugh anymore. He'd been teasing her mercilessly once he realized what she had, and that she wouldn't be able to question him for hours on end.

Laughing softly he leaned against the trunk of the tree Kagome's head was resting on his stomach and she looked like she was trying to breathe deeply, but just couldn't get enough air. Pulling lightly on her cheeks he grinned, when something similar to a mouse began to erupt from her throat it reminded him of her laughter.

"You know you're really troublesome with or without a voice." Shikamaru asked, looking down at those blue eyes that were blinking up at him innocently. He watched when she began squirming until she was resting on her back on top of his legs. She was simply staring up at him and playing with his fingers, sometimes he wondered why she liked being touched so much.

For the rest of his day he would glance her way, but he spent most of his time staring at the sky it claimed him down. And it was nice not to be alone for once, he was almost always alone besides his dad and Choji. It was nice always having someone by his side….

Edited: 9/3/2012


	17. Birthday

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 17

Kagome grinned up at the aging Hokage before raising her arms to be lifted up, it was her fifth birthday and she'd never had one before. Not only that but several of her friends had agreed to come and she'd happily shown of her adorable baby cousin Konohamaru, affectionately called Ko-kun by his older cousin.

She'd also gotten into the habit of showing off the fact that Ko-kun's mother her Auntie Shouko was going to have another baby and Kagome was more than a little excited about it!

"Well, well?Kagome, are you excited? You're five my darling, another year older!" Hiruzen grinned, as his fingers threaded through silken hair to stroke the little girls silky hair.

"I'm excited, grandpa! All my friends are here and I'm excited for Auntie Shouko!" The girl practically purred, a happy grin on her face.

Hiruzen chuckled, "Ahh, How do you like all of your teachers?" He might as well ask, most of the shinobi who had been asked to watch Kagome or teach his young granddaughter all had a relaxed glow about them. He wasn't sure if it was Kagome herself or the number of children they were forced to come into contact with. Either way, the lot of them had been happier and missions were on an all time high of perfection.

Settling in his over large comfortable recliner, he watched over the lot of people on Sarutobi grounds. It had been years since he'd celebrated a child's birthday like this and it seemed even longer since laughter had echoed in the Sarutobi estate hall ways. So many things had gone so wrong and his life and he could only thank everything that was anything that it was going so wonderfully now. Several members of the Sarutobi clan had slowly been trickling back into Konoha, since news of a second child had been circulating the elemental nations.

When a small babbling caught Kagome and Hiruzen's attention both grinned at the small three year old with brown hair and dark brown eyes making his way toward them. "Gome!" The little boy cried, before trying to squirm his way into his grandfather's lap.

"Ohh, no hello to me Konohamaru?" Hiruzen asked, laughing softly when his grandson snorted before hugging his leg happily cheering Ganpa, ganpa, over and over again. Helping the boy into his lap he grinned when Kagome threw her arms around Konohamaru and cuddled him like one of Kakashi's dogs. Konohamaru broke into wild giggles before happily returning the snuggle fest, the two of them proceeded to apply said love to their grandfather who accepted happily.

The deep chuckle from behind his head had Hiruzen turning the swivel chair a bit to the side, he could see all three of his living sons and his only daughter-in-law laughing at him very much amused at the cousins' and their grandfather. "So like being a grandpa?"

"Hmmm I do believe so." Hiruzen grinned, stroking the heads of his grandchildren as they wrestled and played in his lap.

Masato smiled, kissing his wife it was nice that the whole family was back together again. "I think you just like the fact that you can have your pie and eat it too."

Akihiko snickered, he was the youngest brother and the one most prone to playing pranks. Konoha as a whole was already cursing the older man for teaching Bankotsu and Naruto how to create pranks and the like without getting in trouble. Hiruzen was vaguely thinking of assigning the two boys to a long term mission of finding defense issues with Konoha, they both slipped by everyone with the practiced ease of a veteran.

Asuma rolled his eyes, "You're so spoiled dad."

Hiruzen snorted, "I still don't have enough Grandchildren."

Asuma blushed lightly, while Shouko laughed pleased, Akihiko on the other hand rolled his eyes, the only way his dad was going to get grandchildren from him was if some sort of miracle happened and the perfect woman appeared before his eyes.

"Ko-kun?it's time to take a nap." Masato ignored his rambunctious family before sweeping up the little boy that seemed to be an almost perfect copy of himself and his father. Those dark black eyes and thick brown hair practically screamed Sarutobi, all he needed was the stocky build that all the men in the family shared and it would be perfect.

"Wanna stay with Gome." Konohamaru pouted, trying to squirm farther into his older cousin.

"Nope?Ko-kun has to take a nap!" Kagome replied happily.

"But, love Gome." Konohamaru began to sniffle, extremely unhappy with not being with his cousin.

"I love you to Ko, but you need a nap. And I'll be here when you wake up." Kagome just laughed when the boy pouted before being pulled from his grandfather lap, and on to his father's shoulder.

"And you'll be joining him in a little bit, go say good bye to your friends for little bit." Asuma nodded, before watching Kagome wander off to go see her friends off.

Hiruzen chuckled, "You're doing very well, Asuma. She certainly is a sweet little thing."

Asuma snorted, "Gai and Kakashi would disagree with you, and I don't think he's forgiven her latest transgression against his hair. Why would you want her to put rollers in his hair Dad?" Seeing Kakashi with an afro might have been funny but the man in question wasn't amused.

Hiruzen chuckled, "It relaxes him, even if he doesn't know it. It makes him remember the good silly times with Obito and Minato."

Asuma blinked, before thinking back to the team seven of the war. That was true between Obito, Kushina and Minato many citizens and ninja alike had cursed the mischievous minds. "Do you think he realizes that?"

A soft humming noise could be heard from his throat, "At this point I don't think he really cares. He's surrounded by Naruto and his friends on a daily basis and I don't think he could be any happier. Kagome has truly become a blessing in disguise."

"What do you mean dad?" Akihiko spoke up, leaning on the chair his father was settled in.

"My ninja are happier. Kakashi is returning to his sarcastic self, and Gai's getting his friend back. Kurenai is getting to spend time with children, which she loves. Yugao and Hayate are getting to date because when they take their masks off to teach Kagome, they are off for the rest of the day.I think the biggest difference is in Naruto though, he's a far cry from the little boy that would cry at the swings because he was lonely and sad because of the villagers' rejection. He has Lee and Bankotsu now, and he's made friends with Shikamaru and Kagome,and through them Kiba and Shino. This generation is going to be a force to reckon with."

Both of his sons blinked in surprise they couldn't see what their father was talking about at the moment, but they would as the years passed.

Edited: 2-5-13


	18. Bonding

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 18

"Neee… Akihiko… I'm bored!" Kagome whined, looking over the water. It was a pristine blue but it was extremely hot and she wanted to go inside and hide herself away in the freezer… her skin was starting to itch and she knew she wasn't the only one considering her Uncle had dragged Shikamaru and Kiba along with them. (In fact she secretly pitied the two of them for catching this particular uncles eye… he was insane.)

Kiba snorted, "It's not that bad." He grinned in amusement sitting on the front of the large boat. His feet dangling in the water while Akamaru sniffed at the holding tank at the back of the boat. "By the way why didn't Choji come?" Kiba asked, staring back at his friends.

Shikamaru yawned from his layed out position beside Kiba, "He gets really sick on boats… so he decided not to come."

Akihiko sighed, "Poor kid no fishing for him." Akihiko was normally a ball of energy that turned Konoha into hell for those that he disliked but when it came to fishing, hunting or poker he could make himself stay still long enough to enjoy the day.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "It's hot though…"

Akihiko blinked, before studying his niece her cheeks were a little pink and she did seem a little hot. "Well strip!"

All three children stared at the older man as if he'd lost his ever loving mind, "Daddy said I can't do that anymore." Kagome finally stated looking up at her uncle as if to dare him to argue.

Akihiko pouted, when she got that look it was one he'd seen on his mother more than once. Since his mother hadn't been around very often in the last few months because of traveling Kagome didn't know her grandmother nearly as well as her grandpa, "Well put on a swimsuit… there's this nice place I can show you guys to play around at."

All three of them looked interested then, and he could only chuckle the heat must have been getting to them more than he thought it was. "Alright, all of you change." He snorted when Kagome shot down to the apartment bathroom inside the boat while the two boys just rolled their eyes before stripping down to nothing and changing on the deck. Oh yes, the two of them were boys after his own wildly beating heart.

When Kagome returned from below the deck he blinked when he realized she'd managed to smuggle her preferred one-piece on this outing in exchange for Shouko's two piece thing. "How did you manage to get that instead of the two piece thing?"

"Kurenai helped me with genjutsu." Kagome replied, cooly she loved her aunt but hated being a doll sometimes.

Akihiko blinked, "You're doing genjutsu?"

Even Shikamaru and Kiba had stopped to stare at their tiny friend in surprise, they were just starting to work on genjutsu at the academy!

Kagome nodded, "Yeah… but Kurenai said I would be better learning it now because if you get the control right now all you have to worry about is reserves once you got into the academy…"

Akihiko blinked in surprise, it did make a lot of sense even Ko-kun could summon chakra actually most children at the age of two could summon chakra in small bursts. "So how far are you along?"

"Not really far… I mean I can make a one piece look like a two piece, but Kurenai said I don't have the control for anything bigger than that.." Kagome rolled her eyes, "When are we getting to this place?"

Both boys shrugged, they didn't really care but it probably meant that she would be able to join them in their grade in the fall. Akihiko rolled his eyes, before navigating the boat around it seemed to take much longer than Kiba or Kagome were willing to stay still for considering they were running around the boat like little brats.

Eventually they came to a small area that had bright blue waters that were rather clear you could see the sandy bottom of the pool, as well as the fish swimming beneath them. It didn't take long at all for Kiba or Shikamaru to simply jump in quickly followed by Akamaru.

Kagome on the other hand waited, she'd learned how to swim in the last few months but that didn't mean she felt entirely confident in just jumping in like it was no big deal either. Akihito chuckled, before anchoring the boat with a small heavy weight that he always carried before slipping in to the water. Then and only then did Kagome happily hop in the water, it was adorable at least his mind it was considering she swam like a frog. He and his brothers were going to have to teach her something a little bit better than that.

Kagome couldn't help herself it didn't take long for her to start wondering around the area, she could tread water decently and it really was a pretty place. The banks reminded her of a real beach like the one she'd seen in a brochure her father had gotten for a resort. The vegetation here was a little more tropical than normal and there was an amount of falling water that flowed down the side of an awkward rock face.

Eventually Kagome couldn't help herself, part of it reminded her of a slide and she was going to have to try it out. "Kagome what are you doing?' Akihiko asked, watching his little niece climbing up the small incline.

Kagome just grinned before sitting down on the flat surface, letting go of one of the rocks she squealed in delight when the push of the water caused her to slide downward into the lagoon like area. That was so much fun! "That, Aki!" She grinned before swimming toward her uncle and attaching herself to him, it was so much fun and she really wanted to come back. She could only laugh when Kiba followed her example and rode down.

It took Kiba and herself a while but they eventually managed to get Shikamaru to slide down as well. Eventually Akihiko was forced to tell the playful children that it was time to return but he promised he would bring them back again.


	19. To Know his Brother

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 19

Akihiko grinned, as he watched his brother begin to dress ever since the fishing trip of amusement he'd been trying to spend more time with his brothers and siblings children. It had been slightly mortifying to realize that as much as he hugged and spoiled Kagome he hadn't really known what was going on in her life or his brother. Asuma on the other hand seemed to know everything that was happening in the family.

"So I guess you really like Kurenai?" Akihiko asked, curious he'd never personally met the chunin Genjutsu Mistress but he had heard several rumors about the woman such as her relationship with Anko Mitarashi and that she was considered to be the ice queen of Konoha for her lack of interest in men.

"Hmm, I do…" Asuma glanced toward his older mischievous brother he tended to get into trouble more than the others and honestly it made him worry sometimes.

Akihiko sighed, he didn't really understand the interest in men or women his father said he just hadn't grown up yet considering he hadn't shown an interest in anything but pranks and playing with the children around Konoha. "Why do you like her?"

Asuma just hmmed softly, before stripping down he was broad shouldered and built thickly like all the men of his family his height was mostly in his legs and it tended to show when he was in civilian clothing. "For a long time… at least while I was in the capital sex didn't mean anything… because of that my daughter suffered because I was careless. I don't regret anything, I just wished I had done things a different, Kurenai makes me happy in a way I've never had before. It's not all about sex."

Akihiko sighed, "I don't get it."

Asuma laughed, "You're such a kid sometimes… you will, and if you don't you're going to miss something amazing." Pulling on a clean t-shirt and jeans he glanced at his brother and could only sigh when he saw the planning and cunning in those brown eyes so like his own.

"Hey, you're going to stay and watch Kagome right?" Asuma asked absentmindedly, as he walked toward the large bathroom of his apartment. He could only sigh when his older brother followed him like a puppy, before returning to his task. His beard was getting a bit long and he preferred it be kept short and just a side short of scratchy according to Kagome.

Akihiko huffed, "Yeah… that would okay." A grin slipped across his face before turning away, and walking down the hallway to sit on the couch. All he had to do was to wait for Kurenai to get back with Kagome, and then he was going to talk his adorable little niece into helping him spy on his little brother and his girlfriend.

Asuma sighed, slightly relieved that his brother had moved on from whatever it was that he'd been planning. Shaking his head, he blinked when a knock at the door caught his attention moving with quick brief strides he could only grin when his daughter hugged him tightly once the door opened.

Kurenai chuckled, as Kagome continued to babble on about what the two of them had been doing that morning. She was retelling it with such enthusiasm and cheer it was hard not to laugh, at least Asuma could understand her when she got to talking that fast both she and Yugao didn't have it down yet and Gai and Hayate were clueless.

Once Kagome was properly distracted by her Uncle Akihiko, Asuma pulled his wonderful girlfriend against him and gave her a proper welcoming kiss. He could hear his daughter giggling happily in the back ground like she always did when the two of them kissed, or at times even a simple hug sent her into squeals of delight. It just proved men would never understand women.

"Kagome-chan be good okay?" Kurenai asked, tucked under Asuma's shoulder as if she'd always been there.

"Hai!" Kagome grinned, waving while watching the two of them leave it was always so much fun when she was with her Uncle.

"Aiah! Kagome, would you like to go on a ninja training mission with me?" Akihiko asked, minutes later when he was positive that

Kagome blinked, "What are we training?"

"Stealth! It's a vital part of being a ninja!" Akihiko replied cheekily.

"Okay!" Kagome grinned, laughing in amusement when her uncle pulled her along before stripping the young girl down to nothing and replacing her usually cheery clothing with dark colored clothing.

Akihiko laughed just a little madly on the inside, before the two of them went to sneaking around in a quick but quiet manner. Eventually, they found what he was looking for at a small café that many couples civilian or otherwise visited while out on dates.

"Neee, uncle… why are we following daddy, and Kure?" Kagome asked, she really liked the older woman and Kurenai had been dating her daddy for almost six months. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but sometimes she wished that the older woman was her mom instead of the lady who had her before.

Akihiko sighed, were did Kagome get this suspicious little mind from? It wasn't from the Sarutobi side of the family, he and his brothers were a bunch of oblivious idiots when they had been children. He blinked in surprise when he was pulled from his thoughts by loud laughter ringing behind him before his shoulder was covered in honey and feathers.

He could see Bankotsu and Naruto running down the streets like hyena's cackling all the way and several ninja's twitching in annoyance at the fact that they were covered in the substances that had been from the balloons the two of them had thrown.

Kagome giggled happily at the sight of her uncle covered in the golden honey and feathers, "You look silly, uncle Akihiko!"

"I feel silly, Kagome-chan!" Akihiko replied with a grin, not even a little honey would deter him form his spying. "Come my dear, our pray has escaped us!"

Akihiko took off jumping across the roofs at a slow speed, he knew that Kagome had learned the little chakra trick from Kakashi after the "Afro" Incident. She needed it, he'd thought the scarecrow was going to kill her until Naruto and Lee broke down into mad laughter which left the gray haired ninja defeated.

Once he found his targets again he could only sigh once he realized that they had headed into the movie theatre and he was positive that he couldn't get Kagome into that particular movie! Kagome on the other hand was delighted! There was a special movie on it was called Despicable Me and it was suppose to be a lot of fun!

"Uncle Akihiko?" Kagome looked up at him, her eyes large and big slightly shiny with tears creating the ultimate puppy dog effect.

Akihkto felt his insides melt like butter, "What is it Kagome?"

"Can we go watch Despicable Me, pleeeeaaase!" Kagome practically begged, Shino and Kiba had gotten to see the movie and they said it was really funny.

Akihiko sighed, before agreeing. Sadly for the middle Sarutobi boy going to the movies involved sitting in the very front, with a nice large sack of popcorn and the wonders of a coca-cola… this of course lead the girl to be a hyper active ninny for the next several hours and had him thinking about asking for a pay raise.

Not only that but being in the movie theatre wasn't exactly the best idea on his part, for it the temperature inside was always kept very very cold~! This eventually caused the thin layer of honey and feathers to solidify on his shoulder. Needless to say it was becoming more and more uncomfortable as he waited, admittedly the movie was cute but he really wanted to escape!

"That was a good movie, uncle Akihiko!" Kagome grinned up at the man.

Akihiko just gave the girl a small smile… "Yeah it was, I really enjoyed it to Kagome!" She would never know that he was lying through his teeth and had every intention of returning to the house to change into some clean clothing, he felt disgusting.

"Nee… uncle Akihito can we go home… I'm sleepy." Kagome replied, ignoring her uncles less than enthusiastic reply.

"Okay, Kagome… lets go," Akihiko replied, deciding then and there he wouldn't ever spy on his little brother ever ever again. The next time he was asked to babysit his adorable little niece he was just going to say yes and not ask questions.


	20. School is really sorta of bleah

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 20

Kagome grinned up at her father, this would be her first day of school. It was normal for ninja children to start at the age of five or six, and she was getting to start now! Thankfully the shinobu council had agreed to allow her to be tested for placement in the academy. The finding stated that she could be in Neji's class, and while she liked Neji she would miss seeing Shikamaru and Chouji more and so she was allowed into the class two years ahead of hers.

Recently she'd taken to teasing Shikamaru about being the oldest child in his class, not that it really did anything the boy would just yawn and roll over, his second reaction was to pull her to the ground and use her as a pillow not that the small Sarutobi minded.

"Kurenai!" Kagome grinned before rushed to the older woman with her arms stretched open.

Kurenai chuckled picking Kagome up to settle the girl on her hip, "I see you have new clothing Kagome-chan!"

"Hai! Daddy said I needed to have ninja stuff to go to the Academy like Shikamaru." Kagome replied fingering the green of her skirt, she thought it was adorable.

Kurenai chuckled studying the outfit, it really was cute she was wearing the shorter mesh body suit that was made for children, it had a high neck, was sleeveless and ended at her knees. Over that was a cute green skirt that was a bright emerald green color, while her top was similar to a battle kimono or kosode its sleeves were wide and swinging. The main color of the to was a soft cream color while the laps and inner lining were a softer almost mint green, there was little adornment on the cream just small green leaves at the sleeves and toward the bottom, the top was held together by a short faded red obi that was tied with a hidden knot in the back. To top it off Kagome was wearing a silver medallion that was given to her by her grandfather that was in the shape of the symbol of Konoha.

"It's very cute, has Shikamaru seen it yet?" Kurenai asked before glancing at Asuma, honestly she felt that Asuma was nervous about letting Kagome go and train with people that he really didn't know that well. She had never seen Iruka look as nervous as when Asuma decided that grilling the poor boy was the best thing to do to make sure that his daughter was safe.

"Unuh, daddy wouldn't let me." Kagome had a small pout on her face.

Kurenai giggled, "So you didn't get to show it to anyone?"

Kagome shook her head no, "Not even Grandpa!"

"Then you'll just have to show everyone later then won't you?" Kurenai grinned, before placing the girl back on her feet… actually where were Kagome's shoes?

Asuma grinned, before stealing several kisses from his girlfriend, "Thank you for taking her, I've gotten called on another mission I have to leave now." The was a small sad smile on her face, he was going to miss Kagome's first day of school, sometimes he hated being a ninja.

Kurenai sighed, nodded watching him go she could hear Kagome and her father talking a small sniffle and a sad apology in this business you sometimes had to give up the important things. Asuma always said his goodbyes quickly before leaving, mainly because he hated to leave in the first place.

"Come on Kagome it's time to go." Kurenai smiled softly when the tiny girl took her hand, it didn't take the long at all to arrive at the Hyuuga complex. They waited seconds before both Neji and Hinata came out before the four of them began to walk to that Academy.

Hinata and Kagome chattered away happily while, Neji seemed perfectly happy to simply watch over the two girl. Ever since his father told him that his new job was to watch over his baby cousins he'd taken the job very seriously. Within minutes they arrived and like every year there was an excitement that seemed to over take the children and their parents.

"Come on Kagome-chan, we need to find out what classroom you're going to be in." Kurenai smiled.

"Kurenai how many classes are going to be for my year this time?" Neji asked a little more than curious. He'd met two boys that managed to get into his class a boy named Bankotsu and the other named Lee he liked both of them and another boy named Sesshoumaru. The four of them tended to hang out together.

"Hmm… they failed a number of students so there are four different classes about 120 students are left why?" Kurenai asked curious.

"I'm just hoping to be in a class with several people I met last year." Neji replied, taking notice of the lists that were listing where children were to be placed.

Every year many of the students quit or were cut from the line up of shinobi possibilities, his uncle said the civilians complained about it ever year which made him wonder about the mental abilities. Being a ninja wasn't something that was easy if they couldn't make the cut then they didn't belong there.

Blinking he looked over when he heard happy squealing… actually there were four girls cheering Hinata and Kagome were cheering because they were in a class together with Shikamaru and Choji… the other two a blonde and pink haired girl seemed to be squealing and fighting at the same time and for a moment he silently thanked the gods above that neither Hinata or Kagome were like that.

The three children went their separate ways, Kagome and Hinata headed toward the 2nd-B class while Neji headed toward 3rd-A class. Kagome was normally a very out going child but at that moment with so many people staring at her she wanted nothing more than to go hide away at home.

"Ahh! Kagome… Kakashi told me that you were." A taller boy stated smiling, waving slightly at Naruto as he passed and Hinata as she followed him as they continued on inside the classroom.

Kagome looked up at the man in question, before grinning, "I didn't know that you would be my teacher Iruka!" She grinned up at the man, she really did like Iruka with his long brown hair, chocolate eyes, dark skin and scarred nose.

Iruka just chuckled ruffling her hair lightly before, telling her to take a seat. She pouted, she'd rather sit with him but she guessed she couldn't do that either. Considering there was only one chair at the desk and odd stadium seating behind her. Looking over the rows she frowned, Hinata was sitting between Kiba and Naruto and happened to be blushing like mad. They were the only kids that she knew considering Shino and the idiots Ino and Sakura were in 2nd-A not only that but she had no idea were Shikamaru or Choji was.

Pouting she went toward the middle of the back left row, they were partitioned into two sections and each section held three seats. There were a total of ten rows, which meant that this particular class room could hold 60 children this rarely happened except for in times of war. Few minutes after child after child piled in but none of them came to the back left side of the room, Kagome pouted slightly.

Just before the bell to start lessons ran a tall thin boy with a lazy air and a slightly shouter beefier boy walked in before a quick smile appeared on both faces. Both walked toward Kagome before plopping down on either side of her, "Ehh, deciding to be a ninja?" Choji chuckled softly.

"Ah… we've never seen you in ninja gear before." Shikamaru teased poking her lightly in the side making her giggle.

It wasn't long before Iruka let out a very loud shout that startled everyone in the room, and everything went silent. Kagome soon learned why both her friends weren't to terribly fond of the Ninja academy. While some of them might not know the academic portion of being a ninja they did know the ninjutsu and weapons so the only thing that they were really learning happened to be genjutsu or some of the long lectures that Iruka seemed to so enjoy giving out.

It didn't take long at all to get into just as much trouble as Shikamaru she was sleeping on her dearest friend when the afternoon rolled around. She was still used to getting naps and Iruka was just talking about Geography so it would be okay to close her eyes right? Needless to say her father heard about it after school and so did Gai and Kakashi… thankfully Shikamaru was nice enough to help her sneak away while they weren't looking.

It had been nearly an hour since they'd all escaped the jail that was called the Ninja Academy, Kagome huffed she'd enjoyed playing on the swings ad jungle gym while Shikamaru had been laying out watching the clouds. Now she was tired again and Shikamaru made the prefect pillow, grinning to herself she plopped down on Shikamaru's stomach making the boy grunt at the sudden extra weight.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked studying the flushed face before him.

"I'm sleepy…" Kagome replied, before simply laying down the rest of the way on her best friend.

Shikamaru simply looked down, Kagome's chin was resting on his chest and her knees were draw up on either side of him… she looked pretty comfortable. "You're such a brat sometimes."

"Nauh," Kagome replied, "I am not."

Shikamaru simply sent her a look of disbelief, "Hmmm mmmm." Before turning his expression back to the sky.

Kagome pouted, she wanted his attention on her, not the sky darn it. "Neee, you never said if my ninja outfit looked okay or not." She was still looking up at his face in her awkward position, before she began poking his cheeks.

Shikamaru sighed, before forcing himself to sit up and Kagome to wrap her arms to keep from falling. Studying his female friend he was surprised to see that it really was different than seeing her out of civilian clothing, he and most of the kids he knew wore ninja gear on a regular basis.

"Well!" Kagome pouted again… she really was an attention hog sometimes.

Shikamaru felt his face grow warm under such scrutiny, "I think you… uh look… mm… cute." For some reason this admission made his heart speed up, especially when she turned her beaming smile toward him which quickly involved having a warm body snuggled down against his with little chance to escape… not that he really wanted to. Scooting back until his back was against his favorite tree he looked down at Kagome as she snuggled him… some things just never change. Shrugging his shoulders lightly he wrapped his arms around her lightly, he didn't want her to fall or anything right… it was his responsibility to keep her safe when she was with him….

Gai grinned, his mouth opening before it was just as quickly covered by three hands. Asuma, Kakashi and even Iruka had come to spy on the duo when they'd felt the small chakra sources slip away once they assumed that the four of them were distracted. Asuma sighed, his hand still covering Gai's mouth mainly because they could still hear the "FLAMES OF YOUTH" even with several hands trying to stop him.

While he'd been forced to miss Kagome's first day but he'd wanted to be there to pick her up and it seemed he was going to have to give Shikamaru the birds and bees talk himself once the kid was old enough. No matter how much he teased Shikaku he'd never really thought that his daughter would fall in love with the little deer. Looking over his friends and Kakashi's boyfriend he could only be relieved he would have several people helping him with the dating issue when it came down to it.


	21. Another Mother

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kishimoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 21

Kagome sighed as she looked over her aunt Shouko's swollen body, her aunt's belly was really, really rounded. But her aunt was tired all the time and sometimes she winced like she was in pain, in fact today was one of those days and it made her feel bad because she couldn't help.

"Ahh, Kagome will you go get my glass of water from the table?" Shouko asked a small smile on her face.

Kagome nodded happily before doing as her aunt asked, getting the drink off the dresser she set it on the bedside table before climbing into bed with her very tired aunt. Konohamaru was taking his nap, while Uncle Misato was on a mission… her daddy and uncle Akihito were having a long talk about "spying missions" which she really didn't get.

Shouko chuckled when Kagome snuggled up around her swollen belly before beginning to stroke her silky black locks of hair that was something that she really enjoyed. It was also something that made her a little sad, she was going to have another little boy… she so dearly wanted a girl.

"Neee, do you like being a mommy?" Kagome asked her head was resting on Shouko's stomach listening to the cadence of the heart beats and enjoying the feeling of the small movements beneath her head.

Shouko blinked in surprise, "I do. I love being a mommy very much. Konohamaru is the light of my life." Shouko replied looking down at the tiny girl, sometimes she had to wonder what went through her mind. Yet at the same time, Kagome would go silent and still her eyes would go blank and it seemed she was trapped in the past with a woman who hated her.

"Why didn't my mommy love me?" Kagome asked, glancing up at the woman who was her aunt who made her feel happy and safe.

Shouko sighed, and wondered how long this particular question had been running around in the little girl's head. "I don't know Kagome. Sometimes certain ladies aren't meant to be mommies."

"Then why did she have me?" Kagome continued to question, it was something that bothered her.

"I suppose something inside her did love you… something she's probably not aware of loved you more than herself." Shouko continued rubbing the girls head and back.

"Do you think Kurenai will be my new mommy?" Kagome finally asked, burying her face against Shouko's swollen belly.

The elder Sarutobi woman blinked in surprise, "Why do you ask that Kagome?"

Kagome pouted, "Well, daddy and Kurenai kiss a lot and hug like you and Uncle Misato do, and they take me out to eat and play at the park… like you do with Ko-chan…" She wanted Kurenai to be her new mommy and she wanted to have little brothers and sisters like Ko-chan.

Shouko smiled softly, "Maybe you will baby." She tried not to laugh, her brother in law was very much in love with the chunin Kurenai, and indeed planned on marrying the woman it just seemed he hadn't gotten the guts to talk to Kagome about it.

"Auntie Shouko?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you," Kagome replied, snuggling closely up to her aunt.

Shouko grinned, "I love you to baby."

"I love Mommy and Kame-chan!" A little voice beside the bed piped up, both Sarutobi girls found themselves looking over the side of the bed to see a small brown haired boy with a sleepy grin on his face before he promptly climbed onto the highly framed bed.

Shouko nearly died laughing, for some reason or another Konohamaru had decided that Kame was easier to say than Kago, or Gome and thus decided to call his older cousin Kame. Which happened to mean turtle, not one person of their family members thought that fit the younger girl; Shikamaru on the other hand had died laughing the first time he'd heard it and happily told her that it perfectly… none of the family had seen the tiny blue eyed child blush that much at any time during her stay in Konoha.

Pulling the boy the rest of the way onto the bed she rolled onto her back and just smiled when two sets of warm small arms wrapped themselves around her, just above her belly. It was a wonderful and warm feeling of love, it didn't take long for Misato to find himself walking into the room to find his wife fast asleep on her back with Kagome on one side and Konohamaru on the other.

Sighing, he pulled Kagome up and chuckled when she whined like a kitten being taken away from her warm spot. The only reason he'd picked Kagome's side was that it had the most room for him to get in to; kicking off his sandals he slipped in next to his wife who was so very sleepy. Pushing an arm around he settled Kagome on his chest and it didn't take the girl anytime at all to squirm until she was wedged between the two of them.

Looking over his family he couldn't help but grin, Kagome was almost exactly like her dad. When they were children, he and Akihiko often times had to share a bed being a ninja didn't make you rich and his father didn't start making money until years after he became Hokage. Debt and Loans could overtake even the most careful of men, either way they would sleep together to keep warm at night… many times Asuma would crawl in between the two of them instead of their parents mainly because he could get away with being wedged nice and tight between his older warmer brothers, it was nice to know that some things didn't change.


	22. Deer Love

I don't Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto, and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Silver Moon Lit Forest

Chapter 22

"So….deer?" Kagome asked, looking up at Shikamaru. He was holding a large bucket and there were several deer with their noses buried in it, happily munching away at the food inside.

"Yeah." Shikamaru replied, swatting lightly at the deer as several of them gnawed at his shoulders and hair.

Kagome giggled softly before moving closer to Shikamaru. She wasn't too sure about the large creatures. She could almost walk under them without bending forward or backward. She laughed more when Shikamaru began to push some of the smaller and younger deer out of her hair. They gnawed but they didn't try to eat it which was strange.

"Here." Shikamaru pulled her hand and body closer before pushing it inside the bucket with nearly four deer noses surrounding her arm, "Grab some."

Kagome blinked before pulling her hand up with some of the oddly shaped feed in her hands, holding it out with both hands. Her squeals of laughter could be heard all across the forested area. Several Nara men were helping feed and care for the deer and couldn't help but look at the little girl that was grinning as if this was the most amazing thing in the world.

Two deer happily began to leave little thing, leaving trails of liquid across her hands from eating. It was mainly from the moisture that was always on their dark black noses. Shikamaru could only look at her. There was a large smile on his face but there was also a happy little blush on her cheeks that almost never appeared unless she was more than happy. None of his friends had ever wanted to see the deer before. They hadn't wanted to see what they looked like or wondered why he enjoyed working with them. In fact, it was about the only chore his mother didn't have to remind or bully him into doing.

Eventually the deer simply skipped her hands and began to lick her cheeks like she was a sugar or salt cube. Her laughter simply seemed to explode when the deer managed to get her to the ground and the licking fest continued.

Shikamaru smiled in amusement, the laughter was broken up with squeals and wild giggling. "Come on cut it out, she's supposed to be a guest…" Shikamaru shoved softly at a large doe who was happily licking at Kagome's knee.

Of course the deer disagreed with this comment, they had decided they liked the sugary, salty little girl and had no intention to stop licking at her. It didn't take long for his father to sigh before using his shadows to force the overly happy deer away from the girl. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were smashed closed, but there was a small amused smile on her face.

Shikamaru grinned at his father before pulling his friend from the ground and giving her a hand towel that he had quickly learned to carry with him when he helped his father tend the deer.

Kagome took the towel quickly before she began to rub away the thin lines of saliva on her face; it was sort of gross and smelled yucky. She really wanted to take a bath; maybe Yoshino would let her take one once they were finished?

A small amused smile grew on Shikamaru's lips before he grabbed her hand and pulling her toward one of the larger sheds in the area. Once they arrived, he showed her the brushes before the two of them gathered a number of the curry combs and bristle brushes. It didn't take long at all for them to give out the items, or to be pushed toward the smaller younger deer that the two of them could reach.

"Nee…Shikamaru…what does this one do?" Kagome asked, looking at the brushes she was holding. It was a complete circle and made of hard plastic. It was an odd blue color with large thick widely spaced bristles. She was sure she had heard one of the older Nara boys call it a curry comb.

"Oh, that's a Curry Cone…it's used like this." Shikamaru moved behind the little girl. His hand covered hers before moving it in a small circular. Kagome blinked before a grin ran across her face.

"This gets all the dirt off, after that you use the Dandy brush. This gets rid of spurs and debris like leaves and grass that get caught in the under coat." Once he was sure that she was doing everything correctly, he found another young deer and started the process over again.

Kagome blinked, studying Shikamaru. He seemed so relaxed here with the deer, as if it was the easiest thing for him to do. And she had to wonder how often they came to feed and clean the deer.

Hours passed as the youngsters of the Nara clan cleaned the deer from antler tip to their hoofed toes. Kagome had learned so much more about the Nara clan and she was tired and more than a little achy, yawning and gross. She was covered in deer saliva, dust and sweat, and she personally wanted nothing more than to take a bath.

Kagome yelped when she was pulled into warm strong arms. Yoshino grinned down at the girl. She knew for a fact that both Kagome and Shikamaru had worked hard and for a very long time, considering their ages. Yoshino grinned in amusement when the girl looked up as if to ask what she was doing.

Eventually, Kagome found herself stripped of her clothing before she was plopped down into hot, warm water. Yoshino dropped a large bucket of water on top of her head, allowing her long locks to become wet all at once. Kagome huffed when she felt cold goop drop onto her head before Yoshino began to scrub at her, happily humming to herself.

Kagome yawned sleepily before splashing herself in face. Just as soon as she'd splashed herself, she found another large bucket of water dumped over her head, removing the ick from her hair. It didn't take Yoshino long at all to come after the ebony haired child with a soap slicked wash rag. Kagome knew better than to fight. She'd seen what happened to the boys that didn't listen to Yoshino…the older woman had even washed Bankotsu's mouth out with soap.

Once she was pulled out of the tub, Yoshino went to grab some clothing, leaving Kagome to rub the large towel across her head full of hair. When she finally got the towel off her head, she grinned. Shikamaru was standing in the door; he wasn't really paying attention. So, when she happily hugged him, her best friend's whole body stiffened.

Shikamaru blinked. Kagome was naked…very, very naked and he had seen everything and she was hugging him. He didn't have a shirt on and he was in his boxers. He was more than a little embarrassed and confused about the embarrassment that seemed to well up in his chest. Pushing the thoughts aside he took a deep breath and simply grabbed the towel that was left on her shoulder. He promptly began to continue rubbing at her still wet head, at least until a flash of light went off. Nearly jumping in surprise, he could see his mother with a Cheshire grin on her face, camera in one hand and clothing for Kagome in the other.

"Kagome take this, Shikamaru strip!" Yoshino grinned evilly, taking a deep joy in her son's shout of disbelief. Only when Kagome was far from the door frame did he willing take off what was left of his clothing. He quickly popped into the tub and glared at his mother. Sometimes he had to wonder why all women were so damn troublesome.


	23. Fearful Birth

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Silver Moon Lit Forest

Chapter 23

Kagome pouted while she looked up at her father and uncles. Konohamaru was snuggled down against her side while they sat between there grandparents. Her grandmother had returned home nearly three weeks ago and they had enjoyed getting to know each other. Thankfully her grandmother had no more pressing matters so she would once again be staying in Konoha again.

Earlier that day, just after breakfast, she'd been helping Shouko give Konohamaru a scrub down after the younger boy had played in the muddy pool in the back yard. Unfortunately, her aunt slipped when she was trying to stand before dubbing over in pain. She could remember watching her Aunt fall, then watching Shouko close her eyes and take deep slow breaths as if she were in horrible pain.

Kagome had almost panicked, before running outside screaming for an Anbu member. Her uncles and father were far away, all of them had been sent away on missions earlier in the week. Eventually an Anbu member had appeared at once, having heard the young girl screaming and crying. It took several moments to calm the young girl. A whole squad appeared to canvas Misato Sarutobi's home before one member with a dog mask and silver broom hair took her and Konohamaru to their grandfather.

After everything had been explained, Hiruzen asked Homura to man the desk while he watched over his grandchildren and daughter-in-law. Homura had agreed. Both Koharu and Danzo would try to do things that wouldn't be in the best interests of Konoha.

So, there they were, sitting with their grandchildren, worrying over the fact that Shouko was just shy of eight months pregnant. She'd been curled up on the bath room floor. Ko was found sitting next to her, crying, trying to help his mother. Hiruzen frowned when one of the doctors came forward, "Yes?"

"Ah, Hokage-sama…do you know if Shouko-san's husband will be returning soon?" the Doctor asked, a slightly worried expression on his face.

"He should be back in the next few days." Hiruzen frowned, worried about his only daughter.

Doctor Fuji frowned, "I see…Would you or your wife like to stay with her during the duration of the rest of her pregnancy? I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to stop the birth from happening. Her amniotic sack has burst and one of the children has already moved into the birthing canal."

Hiruzen blinked in surprise, "One of the children?"

Fuji blinked back, "Yes, there are two detached chakra signals, both living and healthy. They were not found before now?"

Biwako, Hiruzen's wife, laughed in amusement, "So, one has been hiding, I suppose?"

"Yes, indeed…" Fuji replied with a small grin, "Other than being a little early, all three are extremely healthy, though the baby that has recently dropped has done so feet first." While this had several risks, there was little they could do considering the baby was already in the birth canal.

Hiruzen nodded, "Biwako go ahead with him, I'm going to find Kagome and Ko-chan a place for tonight." Watching his wife, he noted her nod before walking toward his grandchildren. Pulling the sleeping Ko into his arms, he put his hand out for Kagome to take before leaving the busy hospital. It didn't take the older man long at all to come to a small two bed room apartment at a relatively well off part of town. Knocking lightly on the door, Hiruzen was very much startled when a sleepy Iruka answered the door, followed by a yawning Kakashi. Both were shirtless and in boxers.

"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi questioned, his eyes were blurry with sleep, though his arm slipped around Iruka's waist pulling the man back away from the door. Even sleepy he was a suspicious, paranoid man. Trying to become more aware of the situation, a bright blush could finally be seen on his unmasked face as he realized his boss, his leader, was standing at his door, looking at him as if he'd never seen Kakashi before.

Hiruzen blushed as well, he'd had no idea that Kakashi was gay or at least bi-sexual (he knew the younger man enjoy the Icha Icha series just as much as he did). It would certainly explain his lack of interest in many of the women of the village!

"I need you to look after Kagome and Konohamaru, Shouko is in labor and my sons are outside of the village." Schooling his face, he could only sigh in relief when Kakashi nodded before moving to take Konohamaru from his arms, and moved to allow Kagome inside.

Everything seemed to happen that quickly. Both Konohamaru and Kagome were put with Naruto in his large bed. He'd been living with Kakashi for the last eight months, and then Iruka had moved in the month before. It was honestly like having a wife, or partner at least, and a son. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Kakashi huffed, looking over the three little brats in bed before pulling Iruka with him back to their room. It didn't take the copy nin any time at all to engage the sound seals around his room. Sometimes that was the best things that his sensei had ever taught him, especially when it involved a warm and willing Iruka.

O

Kakashi huffed when the morning came. Looking over them, he had to sigh it had been relatively early in the evening when the Hokage had dropped Konohamaru and Kagome off at his home and he was relatively sure that he'd embarrassed himself and Iruka. Looking in at his kitchen, a grin slipped across his lips. Iruka was serving the brats eggs and bacon before turning back to start cleaning up.

Walking forward he turned his partner around to lock lips with the man. Sometimes looking at Iruka, this fierce need to love and protect the small boy welled up inside his chest and it made him ache. Kakashi wasn't sure what his life would be like without Naruto or Iruka, and he didn't want to think on the possibilities.

Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin when he was whipped around from the dishes to be pressed firmly against Kakashi's hot, hard mouth. He could hear his boyfriend muttering "I love you"s against his lips, and it made Iruka's stomach jump in excitement. He really loved the perverted Copy Ninja and he had no regret admitting it in the months prior. At first Iruka had thought that he'd scared the man off, before Kakashi had come back with a vengeance with the little boy Naruto and several of his friends. There had been nothing but sweet dreams since.

Kakashi grinned at the dazed expression on Iruka's face, before smashing his lips against his little dolphin's lips again. He knew Naruto was used to the action, it happened several times in a day. Kagome would get used to it since she did spend a lot of time in his home.

Kagome just blinked. That was different. Why didn't Kakashi kiss her daddy or Gai? Then again, she really wouldn't wanna kiss Gai like that either. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she was startled when Kakashi finally stopped pestering Iruka to take off toward his job. Apparently Iruka would be taking her and Konohamaru by the hospital.

It didn't take the young man anytime at all to get all three children dressed and ready to go. While he would be dropping Kagome and Konohamaru off at the hospital, he and Naruto still had to go to work and there was little doubt in his mind that he would be questioned by all the little girl's friends about why she wasn't there during the day.

Smiling at the three of them, he swooped Konohamaru up into his arms and they started off toward the hospital. Thankfully, it was early enough that there was little to no traffic on the street, so he didn't have to worry about seeing Kagome or Naruto. The two children chatted, though Kagome didn't seem to have the same enthusiasm as usual. Kakashi had told him more of what had happened and there was little doubt in Iruka's mind that she was worried about her aunt and the baby.

Once at the hospital, Iruka dropped the two off with Sarutobi-sama with the offer to watch the two youngsters again when his class was over with, Hiruzen had simply grinned and nodded before watching the young man go. "Kagome-chan, Ko-chan, do you want to meet Shouko's babies?"

"Babies?" Kagome asked startled.

Biwako smiled when she heard the surprise, "Indeed Babies."

"Otoutos?" Ko asked a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Hiruzen chuckled, "Yes, two little boys."

Both children were wide eyed and waiting. They were quickly taken back to see the two boys. They were obviously Sarutobi's, taking after their father with softly tanned skin and thick black hair, but they might have their mother's eyes. They were an odd blue green color that was Shouko's best feature.

"What did ya name them?" Kagome piped up, curious about the twins. There was supposed to only be one….so why were there two of them.

"Tatsuhiro, and Syuusuke." Biwako answered, looking over the little ones. She wasn't about to take Kagome or Konohamaru into the infants ward. Both of them could make the little ones sick, so they were going to just have to look through the glass.

"Tatsu-chan and Syuu-chan?" Kagome replied. Konohamaru had to nod; he didn't think he could say those big names.

Chuckling, Biwako studied her grandchildren. She'd almost given up hope to have them. Then Misato had married, and Shouko had given them Konohmaru. She had never expected to return home to find a granddaughter from her youngest. Seeing Kagome and Asuma happy at home in Konoha had filled a void that appeared when Asuma had fled from home, dissatisfied with his life there with family. But he had come home stronger and happier than when he'd left. There was such a great purpose inside him now that had quickly pushed her youngest to the top five of jonin currently in the village. This was what peace was, being able to have grandchildren, and she could only hope that more were to follow.


	24. Tinsel

I don't own Naruto or Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Silver Moon Lit Forest

Chapter 24

Kagome grinned. For the last several days she'd been doing nothing but playing in the snow and helping put up Christmas trees. She'd helped her father, Kakashi and Iruka, her grandparents and both her uncles! Not only that, but Hinata had asked her to come help them put up a Christmas tree up at the Hyuuga household. Of course her daddy was only too happy about it, saying something about more female interaction, but she hadn't gotten it. When she'd asked Kurenai about it, the older woman had just howled with laughter.

Either way here she was, dressed in a pair of green colored jeans and a red holiday sweater. Normally she didn't do the whole Christmasy red and green but it was all that was clean because her father had been on missions and collapsed when he'd gotten home. Kurenai said they should get a maid, or her daddy needed to take less missions. Apparently her daddy agreed, because he'd kissed Kurenai until she was in his lap and looked like she was going to faint.

Shaking her head at the idea, she grinned when she saw Hinata, then Neji, before hugging both cousins. Hinata giggled, while Neji sighed. He was still rather unused to the friendly contact. That and he'd never heard the end of it when a girl named Tenten had informed him that he shouldn't be friends with Kagome because she seemed like a fan girl. His only conclusion on that subject was that Tenten didn't know Kagome very well at all and he prayed he was never in the middle of one of their cat fights.

Once the welcome was over, the three of them headed toward their family room. There were several families in the Hyuuga clan, Hiashi and Hizashi had recently come to make up the new main branch. Hizaima, their father, went into cardiac arrest and passed on several months ago and since then a law had passed within the Hyuuga clan that the Bird Cage Seal was to no longer be used. In fact, a new seal had been created. The seal was applied at the wrist, making a small mark similar to the symbol of the sun. This new seal was created to ensure that should the eyes be forced out of the body, or the person in question died the genetic material was useless.

It was like a new dawn in the Hyuuga house hold. A happier and warmer household seemed to even give the children of the house a warmer easier confidence that could be seen in their classes.

"Neee, Kagome how do you like having baby cousins?" Hinata asked, steps ahead of Neji as he watched the two of them.

"Ah…It's okay, Syuu-chan and Tatsu-chan are really cute…their eyes are staying the same as Shouko's. Daddy and Uncle Misato thought they would change into the "Saru" eyes. You know, turn that light brown like theirs." Kagome grinned. She'd thought that was really neat that babies' eyes could change after they were born.

Hinata blinked in surprise, "Really?"

Kagome nodded, "Yeap."

"Alright, are you three ready? Ah… Hinata where is Hanabi-chan?" Hizashi asked, looking over his niece. While he was too old to have the Bird Cage Seal removed, it relieved him to know that his son would only receive the Silent Sun Seal. That all the children of the future would only carry the Silent Sun Seal was a relief in his heart.

"Ohh! Daddy is giving her a bath…she pulled Mama's cake mix off the counter," Hinata replied. While her mother was basically the queen or matriarch of the Hyuuga clan, it didn't mean that she couldn't cook or clean like a normal woman. In fact she insisted both her daughters learn these particular skills.

Hizashi laughed in amusement before beginning to unpack the ornaments, and letting the children go to town. Both he and Hiashi had put up several Christmas trees outside the house and one inside for the children to decorate. It was fast becoming a tradition that their children adored.

Leaving the children to it, Hizashi left to find his brother and youngest niece. By the time he had returned with Hiashi and Hanabi, he could only blink before breaking down into laughter. Apparently Kagome and Hinata had gotten tired of putting stuff on the tree and had instead decided that Neji needed to look more christmasy.

The boy's hair was pulled back into a low braid but with green, red and white ribbons threaded through the braid. He also seemed to be covered in tinsel of silver and gold…With his regular winter white Hyuuga outfit on, it was a completely new and different effect. He could only snort his laughter.

Hanabi squirmed in her papa's arms until she was put on the floor. Squealing with all the laughter of a two year old, she began to babble the words "pretty", and "shiny". This of course made Neji frown, this was more than humiliating, but both Kagome and Hinata were happy. So he had a hard time being mad. Though he wasn't sure he would ever forgive his father for leaving him alone with the two younger girls to be used like a doll. Then again, now that he thought about it, he wasn't going to be able to forgive his father at all if his new sibling was going to be a little girl. He didn't think he could handle having a little sister for a sibling.


	25. Prayers and a Diary

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Silver Moon Lit Forest

Warning: Timeskip.

This along with 22-25 have recently been betaed by Silver Moon Lit Forest, she's a great writer and I hope you all go check her out.

Chapter 25

Shikamaru looked down at the tiny girl next to him. She was grinning up at him as if nothing could be better than being out on a cold damn day like today. Then again, with her parents and little brother all sick, they wouldn't have been able to come to the Fire Leaf Temple. It was part of the New Year, or O-Shogatsu, and she was always excited to celebrate.

"Come on, Shikamaru. It's not that bad and you don't live that far from home anyway!" Kagome laughed before tugging on his hand and happily pulling him behind her. It was something she'd always done, holding his hand, and he'd never really minded. But now that they were older it seemed to bother him more than it once had, like he hated getting kissed on the forehead by his mother.

The night before, they had enjoyed buckwheat noodles before they had gone to a bonenkai party at the Akimichi house hold. Needless to say, they had both felt fat and tired after the long party had finally subsided. They had managed to return to Shikamaru's home where they had both crashed. The only problem was that morning….apparently Yoshino and Shikaku were feeling frisky, and they had both gotten out of the Nara house hold relatively quickly. Which was how she and Shikamaru ended up walking toward the temple to make offerings for the year to come, it really was exciting. She loved being able to see her wish and thoughts being tied to the tree. She also took a silly guilty pleasure in ringing the bell and giving up her prayer to the gods. Generally, her prayers involved the hope that her loved ones always came back from their missions.

Her loved ones had expanded over the years. A few months after her sixth birthday, her father, Asuma, and her mother, Kurenai, married. Eventually, she was given a little brother they named Souta. He happened to be the apple of her and her parents' eye. This occurred just short of two years before. Her mother was also pregnant with their second child; they were all eagerly awaiting the child's birth. She always prayed for good health and happiness in there house hold. The fact that her father had proposed under one of the many Holy Trees of this particular shrine, just seemed to make this place a symbol for all good tidings.

"I just don't understand why you like this place so much…" Shikamaru grumbled, looking toward his long time female friend. He'd known and been friends with Kagome even longer than he'd been friends with Ino. Then again, depending on what day it was, the time, or the weather decided if he was friends Ino Yamanaka.

Kagome paused, thinking over the question quiet seriously. "You know how relaxed you are after watching the clouds because everything has calmed down? I sorta feel that way about the shrine…it's comforting for me. That and I like Kaede and Kikyo. They're both really nice, and Kaede plays with me when she's able to!" Kagome grinned up at him; sometimes she simply disappeared in him or Choji. This was the only time she was just allowed to be a girl, and, as much as she loved the two of them, they didn't understand girl things.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He knew that he and Choji probably were energetic enough for her sometimes. So it made since that she would seek out other people to play with. Then again, Kagome was a little social butterfly. She tended to be with anyone she could at all times. She still hated the dark and being alone.

"Come on, I think you'd like them…Kikyo is like you. She's really quiet and prefers relaxing when she gets the chance." Kagome grinned up at him.

Shikamaru smirked, "Fine…but I want to stay home tomorrow. You've dragged me out here three days in a row. The gods are going to think you're greedy, Kagome." His soft laughter at her pouting seemed to echo across the steps of the shrine as he was pulled the rest of the way up to the landing. When her hand tightened around his, he nearly pulled away. This was something that had been bothering him recently about being around Kagome. It never failed that she made something odd jump in his stomach, and he hated the uncomfortable feeling that settled there.

"I'm not greedy. I just want to make sure everyone comes home safe and sound…Daddy was hurt really bad on his last mission. He still has to go to the hospital because of it," Kagome replied. She was biting her bottom lip. It seemed to have become a bad habit for her every time something bad happened or she worried over something, she began to gnaw on that same lip.

Shikamaru frowned. He'd heard about it but his parents and Kagome had been pretty tight lipped. They were rumors of a different group that was collecting something; Asuma had supposedly run into one of them. The fact that he'd made it back alive and in one piece seemed to be something of a miracle. At least that's what his parents said about it when he listened in on one of their conversations.

Slowly the conversation faded away as the two of them followed through with the motions of wishes for the future year. It was something that Kagome had demanded to do the year before and she had decided that it would be a tradition whether her friend liked it or not. Then again she tended to drag him away at the most opportune times, like when his mother decided the day before that it would be the perfect time to visit all her friends and the family…he'd missed the whole thing. The fact that she'd come home to find her son dozing on the couch with his best friend had been the only thing that had saved his life, in his mind anyway.

"How much longer you going to be staying over?" Shikamaru asked. Sometimes it was just better to change subjects than to argue about who was right. This was mostly because the two of them were rather stubborn. It had been about a week since she'd started spending the night, and it never failed that she crawled into bed with him. When they were younger, he hadn't minded, but this was something else that always seemed to make him feel very uncomfortable.

"Are you saying you want me to leave, Shika?" Kagome asked, turning suddenly to push her face just inches from his. There was a pout beginning to spread across her lips, while her cheeks seemed to be flushing in frustrations.

"N-n-no! That's not what I meant Kagome!" Shikamaru felt a slight panic rise up in his chest at the sadness that seemed to fall over her face. He could hear the outrage in her voice and knew he was done for.

"Promise?" She was eyeing him as if she wasn't quite sure if he was being one hundred percent truthful about his comments.

"I promise." Shikamaru sighed, studying her out of lazy tired eyes. He really wanted nothing more than to go home and take a rest.

Kagome grinned before kissing him on the cheek, "Good!" Giggling at the faint pink that appeared on her friends face, she dragged him the rest of the way to his own home, having no idea what a daze she'd put Shikamaru into. As the two of them entered the house, Kagome left Shikamaru were he was before thundering up the stairs. That was quickly followed by a yell from Yoshino not to run in the house.

Shikamaru on the other hand rolled his eyes before heading into the living room to sit on the couch in front of the TV. He could hear the footsteps above his head and he had to wonder at it. Trying to force the thought from his mind, he returned to the television before his eyes began to close as he dozed off to sleep.

By the time Kagome had returned from looking for what she wanted in her room, Shikamaru was fast asleep snuggled down at one end of the couch. Giggling to herself, Kagome settled next to her friend before pulling out a pencil and beginning to write in her diary. It had been given to her nearly a month before by Shikamaru during the Christmas time, and it happened to be one of her favorite gifts. Many of her family and friends had found her writing in it quiet often.

Looking down at the still very empty book, she could only sigh and think. She'd been trying to keep it up to date by putting the things that happened on a day to day basis inside; but she also tried to record things that had happened when she was younger. Flipping back a few pages, she grinned. This really had to be the neatest thing about having a diary. She could go back a look at the things that were most important, like the day she met Shikamaru, or Kiba. Or other things, like the first time her father showed her how to ride a bike, or her Granpa teaching her how to swim.

Thinking it over, Kagome nodded. There was another first that she'd never written about. She rubbed the pencil between in fingers before hunkering down and putting her writing utensil to paper.

_January 3_

_Today was a lot of fun. I managed to drag Shikamaru with me to the shrine again (aren't I nice!) He finally met Kaede and I think that he agrees with me when I say the Shrine has the best trees to lay under, though he did say he would "withhold judgment until spring," I think he was being stingy because I was right! Kikyo kept looking at me with this amused little smile, while her stupid boyfriend "Inubaka" kept laughing at me. He picks on Kaede and me all the time. (It makes me so mad sometimes I wish I could Juuken people like Hinata or Neji.)_

Kagome paused for a few moments before snickering softly to herself, and beginning to doodle a figure sticking her tongue out at the dog eared boy.

_InuBAKA is from the Inuzuka clan like Kiba, Inugaki thinks he's so much better than everyone, including Hana and Kiba….but according to them the only real star of the Inuzuka clan is Inubaka's younger brother Sesshoumaru (I had to ask Neji how to spell his name it's soo long!) And I can believe it. He's really tall and pretty (like my scarecrow or that lazy deer!) But really Sesshoumaru is like a gray hound or whippet, while Inuyasha is more like a bulldog, short and a little on the dumpy/frumpy side. (He looks gross all the TIME!)_

_Anyway, after we got by the Shrine's regularly visiting bulldog, we spent a relutively long time sitting and talking. The only problem was that it started to snow on the way back, which brought out Shika's famous last words, or word in this case "Troublesome!" I swear that boy has a vocabulary the size of a mini dictionary and he only uses one world to express himself, honestly. *insert eyeroll right here!*_

_This of course reminded me about the time that I went ice skating with my scarecrow, Kakashi, his dolphin, Iruka, and the fox that everybody doesn't want to share (Naruto who really does look and act like a fox, it's really kinda cute.) I'd never been ice skating before and it was just a few months before my seventh birthday (Yay I'm going to be nine this May, time sure seems to past really fast.) I, of course, had never gone skating in the first place and, with Minoa being such a large city and there being very small pools of water, I'd never gotten the chance before then either. You know I don't really remember Minoa anymore? I don't even remember what my mom looks like, Daddy said I have her eyes…but for the most part I look like the Sarutobi side of the family with my tan skin and dark black hair. _

_Anyway, well, during this ice skating expedition, Naruto and Kakashi got really hyper and excited (why doesn't anyone believe me when I say my scarecrow gets excited? He does, specially when he's alone with Iruka and he thinks nobody's looking, he bounces on his feet.) Because of this happiness, the two of them practically ended up on their buts. Naruto cackled the whole time, while Iruka and I watched like it was a picture (Tangled rocked btw.) I was incredibly nervous. My dad told me about his epic failure trying to learn ice skating and he said I should be fine considering I'm a lot more grace full than he was at my age…I could only picture daddy as one of those hound dog puppies, you know the ones with ears that are to long and they keep tripping over them? _

_After watching Naruto and Kakashi clown around for a while, Iruka helped me put on my skates and pulled me onto the ring. This was one of many times that I was super happy that Iruka was a teacher because he explains everything and why things work….It didn't take to long before I was skating, but I felt like such a klutz watching Naruto whirl around like a sparrow. When I asked Iruka about that he just smiled a little sadly before telling me that he'd started taking Naruto with him because it was something his parents had done when he was little, and seeing Naruto and his friends so happy made him happy. And that hurt a little. I don't think I could live without my parents or my siblings and cousins. They make everything worth it, and, even though I get mad at Ko for doing stupid things or Souta, Tatsu and Syuu for getting everything dirty, I love them a lot…_

_By the time we had to leave, I was skating really well, but I wouldn't let Iruka go. I think Kakashi was really amused by it, but Iruka just lit up. I think he likes being needed….and Naruto and Kakashi really, really need him. The rest of my class needs Iruka to…I don't think anyone else in our entire school could put up with Naruto and Kiba when they start plotting and get Shikamaru and Shino to help them with there plots… They turn into unholy terrors I say!_

_I think this is all I wanted to write, if I remember anything else I'll put it at the bottom._

Kagome grinned, looking over her journal entry. She really was happy with the little book, and sometimes it was hard to think of a time when she didn't have it on her. Though, she was sure she was going to have to put some type of protection on it, considering once Kiba or Naruto learned about it they would be sure to try and steal it and read it! Smiling, she closed her book before putting it down on the table, and then snickering lightly…She'd stretched out on the couch and so had Shikamaru. In fact, she'd been using his back as a table. The fact that he was face down on the couch, not moving a bit, meant he was out and more than likely would be out until morning. Smiling, she simply laid her head down on his back and sighed very much content to lie on her best friend.


	26. The Day of Chocolate

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto.

Tatsuhiro and Syuusuke-going to be 4

Souta-going to be 2

Konohamaru- 7 (Eight in december)

Kagome-going to be 9

Shika ect-going to be 12(September)

Neji, Tenten, Sesshoumaru -going to be 12 (Graduating this year)

Lee-going to be 13

Bankotsu-14

**Omg, this thing keeping up with ages is going to kill me…..

**Beta:** Silver Moon Lit Forest

**I'm so sorry that this took so long to get up and there shall hopefully be more updates in the future and a much faster pace at least until school starts up again.**

Chapter 26

Kagome grinned when she found Shikamaru and all of their friends. It was relatively cold and, even though it was a holiday, they still had class. Ninja apparently didn't stop to observe Valentine's Day, but she had woken up early and found gifts from her daddy and mama. That was something that had been interesting, asking Kurenai if she could call her Mama. The small girl hadn't understood the tears, or the soft gasp of breath that had been released from both her father and Kurenai, but she understood the loving hug and the emphatic "yes" that followed.

Adults really were an odd lot. When she asked Iruka about it, he'd simply smiled and told her that once she grew up she would understand. She'd promptly pouted. She hated that comment "wait until your older," or "not until your older", or Kakashi's "Not until your forty." Why she needed to wait until forty to know something was beyond her, and she was sure if she had to that there was a book somewhere out there to explain things.

Then again, she liked reading. So that wouldn't be to terribly bad, and the only really interesting thing that she'd done recently was learning how to make chocolate. Though, she really didn't understand the difference between giri and honmei yet. Her mama said it was more of an adult thing; then again, a lot of people had gotten chocolate during this day. She honestly felt sorry for that Uchiha boy. She'd meet him a while back and she quickly learned he wasn't the least bit interested in girls, or sugar…So all those girls getting him milk chocolate were wasting money. He liked tomatoes…and that was the extent of what she knew about him, except he had a really cool older brother named Itachi who worked with Kakashi in ANBU.

Needless to say, the two of them had gotten into an argument over who had the cooler father, which, when put side by side, her daddy won hands down. Which Sasuke had reluctantly agreed with, but when it came down to Itachi and Kakashi, well….they still broke out in disagreement about who was the best. She was firmly in Kakashi's corner, as were most of the other students she knew, simply because they knew more about the silver haired pervert in comparison to the reclusive Itachi. She and Tenten had even drawn a short truce against the duck butted fiend! That was one thing she liked about the older girl, she had her priorities in order. Sakura and Ino were utterly clueless and didn't take things very seriously, Sakura more so than Ino. Kagome felt sorry for Sakura's jonin instructor. When she admitted this at dinner with Iruka, she'd gotten scolded, but she wouldn't take it back. Naruto thankfully agreed with her. Needless to say, Iruka had just stopped at that point in his amusement.

"Kagome, what are you doing?" Choji finally asked. She literally had a basket with her. Sure she'd had it that morning, but it had spent most of its time under her desk.

"Mama wanted me to give out my chocolate, and her chocolate….I have to go see Anko." Kagome stopped right there. One, Anko was crazy; two, Anko was her mama's best friend, and three, Anko said things that the boys got and she didn't, like "pitching and catching," and "bottoms and tops" about Kakashi and Iruka, and, no matter who she asked, no one would answer what that meant.

"And why ain't she doing it herself?" Kiba asked in curiosity. Class was over and the lot of them should really have been getting home when it was this chilly with the wind. He was lucky and had a partner; Akamaru was curled up on his chest, keeping him warm. He hadn't had a growth spurt yet, and neither had Akamaru.

Naruto laughed, "'Cause Kurenai's super pregnant right now! She's due soon isn't she?" He visited Kagome on a regular basis, along with Bankotsu and Lee. Asuma, Gai and Kakashi still had their weekly poker games, and, as such, tended to drag everyone with them. So he knew the lot of them rather well. That, and sometimes he swore Iruka was a chick with how much he talked with Kurenai, and he didn't like gambling at all.

"Yeap! I'm excited about it, too…They don't know if it'll be a girl or boy yet. Oh, and Uncle Akihiko has got a girlfriend!" Kagome stated with a look of utter surprise on her face. Her uncle had, on more than one occasion, stated that he would never get a girlfriend, or get married, or anything of the sort. The fact that he'd been dragged, probably kicking and screaming, into a relationship had been a shocking concept to her young mind.

Most of the boys around her blinked in surprise at the announcement, many of them had just wondered if the older man was gay. But apparently that wasn't the case…It really was an idea that none of them were used to. Even Shino in his usually apathy, looked at her with interest, as if he just didn't understand what she was saying.

"I don't really know what to say to that…" Hinata was the one who spoke up. She'd met the youngest Sarutobi brother. He was much young then his older brothers. Misato was in his thirties, Asuma was in the mid to late twenties, and Akihiko had recently turned twenty. He'd been considered the childish one. Perhaps he was a child, because he was so much younger than his brothers…Then again, his life hadn't been formed around the war like the other two. "Who's the girl who managed to corral him?"

"A woman named Kagura…She's extremely pretty…I don't know what she wants with Akihiko. She also has the most amazing wind affinity. I mean, she puts a lot of the Suna nins I've seen to shame!" Kagome replied. The one time that she'd met the woman, she'd been nice and friendly. The woman had also continually teased her uncle throughout the entire time; he had teased right back. It had been really amusing to watch.

Many of them paused to wonder about such claims, Suna nins were known for their wind affinities, for one to be here in Konoha was a strange thing indeed. They knew that several of the older members of their families had been hoping a few more Wind Affinities would arrive, considering there were only three or four left after the death of the Hokage. It was the rarest throughout the elemental nations.

"You guys sure to gossip a lot, why don't you go practice?" Tenten rolled her eyes; something was always going on in the class below hers.

"Oi! Sesshoumaru, where's Inubaka?" Kiba happily ignored the girl knowing it got on her nerves, looking at his older cousin with a grin. One of the reasons that Sesshoumaru was so amazing to their clan was because he had the recessive gene that allowed him to manipulate poison into his claw attacks. They were absolutely amazing. The fact that they remained a soft natural yellow like the rest of them was something that required a lot of control.

"Hopefully at the temple…he's gross," Sesshoumaru replied, easily looking over the group of children around the gates, "I think it's time for everyone to head home. It looks like it's going to rain soon so shoo." He wasn't that much older than them, but he could be bossy when he had to be. That, and Tsume would kill him if Kiba got sick again.

Many sighs could be heard before they all split ways, Kagome continued on her way to find Anko, and, thankfully, it didn't take long at all to find the older woman. Because she was on her off hours, there were only so many places that she could be; A, a Bar; B, the hot springs, and C, the Dango shop, though not necessarily in that order.

"Annnnkoooo…." Kagome pouted at the older woman. She'd handed out all of her Mama's chocolates and her own, all except one! The bar had been across the road, and it hadn't been that fun of a walk. In fact, she still hadn't given Shikamaru his chocolate because she'd gotten distracted and he'd slipped away probably to sleep at home. He was so darn lazy sometimes!

"Hey, Brat. Gimme my chocolate." The purple haired woman grinned. She knew she irritated the hell out of Kurenai's step-daughter, and took a great deal of pleasure in bothering her. Though, she'd gotten into a lot of trouble about the gay comments about Iruka and Kakashi, considering the beating Asuma had given her after Kagome tried to understand what she had said. She hadn't meant it in a derogatory way. Asuma didn't want her to know such terms, or even about sex.

Kagome scowled before dropping the wrapped gift into the older woman's hand. She then marched out, she and Anko would never get along. Looking at her own basket, she had to grin. Generally, only boys got chocolate for Valentine's Day and girls got something in March for White Day. But her Mama told her there was another chocolate to be given called "tomo" chocolate which was meant for friends. Of course she'd had to make some.

She made some for Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Kaede, and Kikyo. She even made one for Tenten; they hadn't gotten along when they were younger. But the older they got the more the two of them got along, mainly because most of the female Kunoichi wannabes their age were disgraceful! Generally the three of them, Tenten, Hinata and herself, practiced almost constantly after classes. Tenten had come to realize that, as much as she loved her weapons, they wouldn't be able to withstand Genjutsu or some of the specialized Taijutsu like the Juuken. This year she'd stared working on more of her own Ninjutsu and finding a Taijutsu that would allow her to incorporate her weapons. She was also learning sealing, and both Hinata and Kagome were a little terrified at the monster they had created.

Chuckling to herself at the thought, she wondered down to the Nara district. She had chocolate for Shikaku and Yoshino, too… Her mama had said it was giri chocolate, but she thought it was tomo because they were her friends, right? Knocking on the door, she waited, tapping lightly at the hard steps beneath her feet. Kagome blinked when the door opened. Shikamaru was standing in the door way with his hair going in a lot of directions, without his shirt on, wearing a pair of sleeping pants with seaweed and mackerels swimming through the seaweed.

Kagome promptly broke into giggles while a bright blush rose up on his cheeks at the laughter before he stepped back letting her in. "So what would your mom think?" She asked, looking him in the eye with amusement.

"Oh hush…what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked. He generally came home and took a nap first thing. When his dad got home he would have to practice the Kagemane no Jutsu…It didn't take a lot of energy but he still needed to practice the thing.

Kagome rolled her eyes. Shikamaru wasn't excited for anything let alone "just another holiday" as he called it. "It's Valentine's Day, here." She promptly handed him three small boxes. She had enjoyed making the chocolate. She'd made both Shikamaru and his dad dark chocolate because she knew they weren't a fan of sweets at all…About the only sweet she knew he would eat was a cheesecake and that was because it was so bland. He preferred salty food, and, on the occasion, something bitter or spicy.

"Thanks…" Shikamaru smirked slightly in amusement when she huffed at his lack of enthusiasm. That was one thing about Kagome that he really didn't think would ever change. She was always full of energy no matter what! Yet, at the same time, she was just as slow as the tortoise from the fables his mother insisted on instilling with him.

Blinking her eyes, she grinned before lunging at him. Arms wrapped around his waist and a cold cheek made contact with his shoulder. Shikamaru couldn't say that he was truly surprised by the sudden action, but he could feel that bubbling in his stomach again. Sighing, he simply returned the hug. He really didn't understand women.


	27. First Kiss

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto.

Not Betaed

Chapter 27

Shikamaru sighed, it was March 11th, and Kagome was the only one beside his mother that had given him anything for Valentine's day. Sure, she'd gotten things for the rest of their friends but he wouldn't feel right if he didn't give her something special. He knew that they were growing up, but she seemed to be completely oblivious to everything…including him at times.

Scratching lightly at the base of his neck he was startled when, a large hand clamped down over his shoulder. Looking up, he could see his father looking down on him with such a look of amusement it made him want to tear his hair out…or possibly his fathers. It frustrated him, he felt like he was losing his friend the longer they were in school. The fact that they would be graduating next year wasn't anything he wanted to think about either.

"What is it dad?" Shikamaru finally asked when the amused look continued to bare down on him, it was almost as if his father was waiting for him to mess up. Which felt like an utter betrayal, it wasn't fair in the least he didn't understand girls, he barely understood his mother!

"Have you gotten Kagome anything yet?" Shikaku wasn't about to let this moment pass, it was cute that Shikamaru was having his own little crisis. His son was often times far to calm for his age, calmer than he had been at that age and it was a relief to see him rattled over how to go about this new holiday.

The scowl sent his way answered his question and left Shikaku chuckling as his son, simply stood and left ignoring the laughter that seemed to follow him out the door. Shikamaru wasn't the least bit happy about the constant teasing that seemed to come his way from every adult that came his way. It had started out with his father telling Ino and Choji's father's which had moved on to their wife's. What he didn't understand was why he was the one being targeted, why wasn't Choji getting this kind of grief!

Shikamaru sighed, as he continued to make his way toward the Akimichi grounds, there clan home was amazing. All of it was flat they didn't have storied homes, simply because it was too difficult for the homes to hold up several Akimichi members that far off the ground. Choji like his home because it had stairs, he on the other hand could live without living on the second floor.

Knocking lightly on the door, he blew out a frustrated breath of air before shoving his hands into his pockets as the door opened to show his godfather Choza. The older man gave him a kind smile before informing him that Choji was in his room, he felt a relief come off his chest when the older man didn't say anything about his slight panic.

"Shikamaru, what's bothering you?" Choji asked, a frown on his face. He'd been working on his homework, he really wasn't the best at history but it was something his father told him was a good thing to know. As well as geography, it was a bad idea not knowing where you needed to go, so tracking as a must to go with it.

" I dunno if what I got for Kagome is an okay gift…I suck at understanding girls." Shikamaru stated, a blank expression on his face.

Choji snickered, "Well what did you get her? And beside what are you worried about, Kagome would love everything you got her. I mean she's practically you're sister."

"She likes hairpins so I got her some white ones and those white and blue ones with the Sarutobi clan crest she liked them." Shikamaru shrugged, he couldn't cook and plants where not his friend…he looked at them and they seemed to wilt. He wasn't about to tell Choji that the idea that Kagome thought of him as a brother bothered him a lot more than he thought it would.

"I think she'll like that, she never wears her hair down so you know she'll use it. Besides Kagome can be pretty practical about these things, but you better not tell Ino. She'll be like where's mine!" Choji grinned, noticing how his friend twitched.

Shikamaru huffed, at the smugness that seemed to rolling off his friend "You just set me up didn't you?"

Choji's laughter echoed off the walls of the room, "Yep…besides your gift is going to be one of the better ones...almost everyone is getting her white chocolate."

Shikamaru sighed, before sitting on his friends futon and laying back Choji understood him better than anyone else including his dad and Kagome. He didn't know why he was trying to hide what he was feelings, it wasn't as if the boy would tease him for it. Heck, he didn't even know what he was feeling, just a nebulous warmth that always welled up in him whenever she was around. He felt that same sort of thing when he was with Choji or his cousins….was there really a different when it came to her?

Choji looked back on his friend and could see by the furrowing of his brows that he was frustrated with himself that he couldn't explain what he was feeling even to himself. Sighing he turned back to what he was working on, letting the silence explain things for him. Sometimes he worried about his friend, he was always thinking always. It was a problem that all Nara men had, even some of the women had that particular problem. Years before it caused problems in their clan as if caused some of them to literally loose hold on what was real and what was in there minds. But considering how much they thought, then going through a war it caused several problems that the over taxed mind couldn't process.

The silence settled between them, Shikamaru's breathing had even out while Choji continued to work away in silence. He was almost finished, when he was done he would call Shikamaru's mom and then probably go to bed himself. Smiling to himself, he focused on his task at hand just listening to his best friend distressed sleep.

**xXxXx**

Shikamaru sighed, as he glanced out of the corner of his eye. Kagome was surrounded by boys some of them, a lot of them she hadn't given Chocolate to. He disliked fan girls, but he was coming to find that he despised fan boys. They had been pestering her all day, and he knew that she was starting to lose her cool which was the only reprieve that he could get watching them flutter around her like bees to flower.

Most of their friends had returned the gifts by now, and she was left trying to be polite but he could tell by the way that her smile was beginning to strain and the fidgeting that she was about to lose her cool. When a nudge from his right brought a scolding look from Choji, Shikamaru had to close his eyes to keep from rolling them. Why did he have to be the knight in shining armor?

Shoving his way past some of the boy, the larger Nara grabbed the Sarutobi girls hand and simply dragged her way. Most of the boys had seen the cold looks sent their way, and many of them backed away from the near snarling boy. Since Shikamaru was rarely angry about anything many of them decided that it was perhaps best not to get in the taller boys way.

"Ah, Shikamaru stop dragging me!" Kagome cried, before bumping into the boy when he abruptly stopped. He'd dragged her far out of the class room and she was rather happy about it, the boys weren't trying to get so much attention at least here anyway. Pushing her hands up against his chest, she found herself wrapped in a hard hug. It was odd…Shikamaru wasn't one to simply give out affection and it honestly made her stomach jump into her chest. It was such a warm feeling to her, she liked being cuddled and held. Shifting again, she happily cuddled into his warmth all the while wrapping her arms around his waist.

Shikamaru huffed, he didn't like feeling like this he didn't like wanting to hit someone because they were too close to his Kagome. Choji had been teasing him about his feelings recently and he doubted that his best friend was the only one who had noticed how he felt. His father had gone so far as to give him the "sex" talk and that had been the worst possible thing every. He was relatively sure he would rather learn about intercourse from a text book than his slightly perverted old man.

Shikamaru felt his cheeks begin to glow with heat as she began to nuzzle into his neck and shoulder, she seemed to keep getting shorter or he was just shooting up in height. Shivering, he frowned when he caught their friends out of the corner of his eye. Kiba, Shino and Choji were all spying on them, what did the three of them think he was going to do? Grumbling to himself he pulled back, which really did seem to work considering she just followed his movement and stayed attached.

Kagome couldn't help but giggle when he tried to pull away and she simply followed his movements, the huff of breath in her ear sent a shiver down her spine and just caused laughter to escape her lips. When Shikamaru shifted again, Kagome let him rearrange her but that didn't stop him from dragging her away from the school.

"This is for you." Shikamaru muttered, passing a long thin box into her hands.

The box in question reminded Kagome of some of the jewelry boxes that held bracelets, but it was too long to be a bracelet. Glancing at Shikamaru in the corner of her eyes, she continued her study it was a soft white with a blue and green ribbon keeping it tied together. She knew Shikamaru hadn't done the ribbon it just wasn't something that he would do. Yoshino probably tied it, though he might have picked the colors. He did know she loved blue and green the most, out of the rest of the colors she'd seen.

"Ano…Shikamaru you didn't have to get me anything for White day!" Kagome finally spoke up, her own cheeks were several shades darker than his at this point. She loved making things for her friends and she loved Valentine's day, she'd gotten chocolate in return and because she'd never eat it all she had every intention in sharing it with her mama, and daddy and probably Choji.

"I wanted to….you didn't have to make me dark chocolate either," Shikamaru huffed, this was so embarrassing, at least his male friends weren't staring the two of them down. Not only that but he shuddered at the thought of what Ino or Sakura would do if the two of them knew that he'd gotten her an actual gift.

Kagome finally smiled, before she pulled lightly at the ribbon and it fell apart easily. Pulling on the lip, she slipped the thin top beneath the box before pulling away one of the thin layers of white netting. Big blue eyes went wide, beneath the mesh cloth were two very different sets of steel hairpins. One set was made of what looked like bone they were long and slender, the white of the pins seemed to be over exaggerated by the ink black cap at the end of both sticks which curled around thin short strings that dangled three beads, two white and one black. The second set was a soft gray steel that could be used as weapons, they were much simply only having her clans crest at the end in blue and white.

"But these have to be really expensive!" Kagome was rather conflicted, this was way too good for just a White day gift.

"Just think of it as an early birthday gift." Shikamaru just shrugged, he knew that she would us them she changed her hair on such a regular basis that she could probably use the pieces to do whatever it was that she did.

Kagome felt out of her element she didn't really know what to make of it, shaking her head she pulled the simple pony tail down before shaking out her curly waist length hair. "Help me."

Shikamaru blinked, he'd been watching her shake out the kinks and could only watch as she began to twist her hair up high on her head into a bun. He wrinkled his nose before taking the hair pins from the box. He really had no idea what he was doing but did as she directed, before sighing.

"Thank you, I really like them," Kagome smiled, though she was a bit nervous which brought out her lip biting habit before she did something he never expected in the least. Looking up at him, she could only blink when he sighed looking down at her with an expression on his face that she really couldn't explain. Breathing deeply through her nose, her breath was let out with a woosh before she pressed her lips against his. It was different, she'd kissed Shikamaru on the cheek before, but this really was different his lips were softer than his cheeks and she was old enough to know kissing someone on the lips meant something different than all the hugs and cuddles she'd bestowed on him when they were younger.

Shikamaru felt his eyes widen before they shuttered closed, before his hands moved and rested on her shoulders. When they pulled apart, they were both pinked cheeked but neither really wanted to pull away from the other. He couldn't help but study her face, while she was blushing the was a missing confidence that she usually had as if she wasn't sure that it was the right thing to do. Lacing his fingers with hers, he couldn't help but walk her home they didn't say anything the rest of the way to her home.


	28. Hurt Feelings

I don't own Inu Yasha, or Naruto.

Sorry for the wait I'm very unsatisfied with this chapter but it will lead up to a large part of this story's back story. Kagome's past will be coming to life with in the next four chapters.

Ah and please point out any mistakes that may have been made, this hasn't been betaed as of yet.

Chapter 28

Asuma huffed as he watched over the children, a week earlier his little girl had kissed Shikamaru Nara. Kagome had dragged Shikamaru with her to one of her cooking lessons with Choji, and the three of them were laughing and smiling. Or at least Choji and Kagome were, Shikamaru was looking at the two of them with a look far older than he was on his face. There was a contentment there that could be found in the older population of Konoha.

The fact that Shikamaru and Kagome had kissed wasn't the part that had annoyed him, it was that his daughter apparently liked kissing the small brown haired boy. As such she tended to kiss the boy whenever she damn well felt like it, and in some instances it was completely inappropriate. He could talk to Shikamaru about it, but the boy wasn't about to try to resist the small girl. And Shikaku had been cackling like a loon since this had started, apparently the tables had turned and he was the one who couldn't handle the thought of his daughter being an adult. She was only turning nine in a month, while Shikamaru would be turning twelve at the end of the year.

Kurenai simply thought it was adorable, as did Gai. Thankfully at least someone agreed with him, and Kakashi was not pleased with the young Shadow nin. They were both of the opinion that Shikamaru was too old for their sweet little girl. Then again he knew this was ridiculous but he couldn't help but be frustrated by the situation as a whole. Shikaku was amused, while most of the adults around him including his father and siblings thought it was adorable.

Closing his eyes for a few moments he moved to sit with the other men at one of the tables, while the children were learning to cook the men who were supposed to be watching them talked with one another. Choza, Inoichi, and Shikaku were sitting about talking while Gai and Kakashi were having an argument about something he really didn't want to know about. Iruka was helping the children with their goal. It was sad actually, it took seven men to take care of five small and relatively well behaved children.

"You know, Shikamaru is a lot smoother than you when we were kids Shikaku." Inoichi was grinning in amusement, it had been obvious to most everyone that Shikamaru had formed some sort of a crush on the only Sarutobi girl over the last year. When Shikaku met with his two friends during their nights out, it was all thy could talk about. Many of the ninja around Konoha simply assumed that they did nothing but reminisce about the good old days, they had no idea that the three of them did nothing but speak about their children.

"I don't want to hear about this." Asuma piped up, his eyes closed a look of distaste on his face. He didn't want to think about Shikamaru in that way, and he certainly didn't want to think about what Shikaku had been like at that age. They really would have to talk to Kagome about this soon, he knew that she'd been curious about where babies came from sense Souta had been born and you could only put these things off for so long. It seemed like yesterday he was bringing his sweet little girl to Konoha, and her meeting all her friends.

Choza simply smiled, "You know it's better this way. You at least know the boy in question, I know it was hard for Inoichi and his father when Ioko, left after she fell in love with someone outside of Konoha. We barely see her anymore!"

"That's true, but my sister is happy so I can't say anything." Inoichi could only nod, he didn't know his sisters family very well. None of her children were interested in being ninja, and he really couldn't blame them. The only reason clans did so well was because they had business outside the ninja world. Others had to find things to supplement to their income, it was honestly good that Kagome find something else to do like being a medic nin or trained to work with clans to help their business.

"It's not like they are going to get married, no matter what Yoshino says." Kakashi replied, "Not only that but their too young for the group of you to be plotting." The silver headed man could only frown as he continued to watch them, they did look happy and that was really all you could ask for from a bunch of children like them. They were a relatively well adjusted considering that the ninja academy was teaching them how to kill. This year was always the hardest, this year they would be learning how to kill and he hated the thought of how it would change them.

Iruka on the other hand was giving the six of them a look that reminded all of them that patented glare that all mothers achieve when one of their children misbehaved. He was firmly in the corner that they shouldn't influence them either way, so he tried his best to sensor them while they still had some innocence.

"What do you think their talking about?" Ino asked, looking at the adults sitting at a table looking at them while talking. The younger Yamanaka knew that smirky grin on her daddy's face and it meant he was gossiping like her mama, she got some things honest.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "The same thing they've been talking about for the last week, Shikamaru and Kagome." That really was the only thing he'd been hearing about for the longest time at least in his mind.

Shikamaru could only groan while Choji continued to laugh happily before stirring at the boiling rice. They were going to make something simple and rice, they were going to make onigiri and he was sure that his father would let them dip a few of them in chocolate. They were going to stuff some of them with meat and sauces as well, this was going to be something of a mid-time snack for his family.

"Oh…about that supposed kiss thing? Not to be rude, but may I call bull shit!" Ino paused when all the others ordered her not to swear before going on with her semi-rant. "You don't have the balls to kiss anyone, not only that I don't think Kagome would kiss you anyway. You're too much of a lazy ass!" The look of accomplishment at saying her piece seemed to ignite and argument between Ino and her blonde male counterpart about the truthfulness of the kiss.

"They have to! I've lost count it's happened so much!" Naruto replied, before the two of them got into a furious whispering war leaving the rest of them looking on in bafflement. The confusion got worse when the two blondes seemed to be looking at them with a lot of suspicion. Every few seconds the two of them would whisper before glancing up, primarily at Shikamaru and Kagome. Finally the two of them broke from their huddle, a smirk was running across Ino's face and scowl on Naruto's.

"Well prove it! Shikamaru kiss her!" Ino smirked, positive that she was right. There was no way that lazy ass had gotten a kiss before her, she refused to believe it. The blond girl giggled happily when two young faces turned a dark shade of pink, Kagome in fact was looking like she was about to go hide. It was obvious that the dark haired girl was very uncomfortable being put on the spot.

Silence seemed to pass for a while before Kagome just sighed before turning away trying to ignore him, but it wasn't before a flash of hurt seemed to run across her face. Shikamaru could just sigh when he felt Choji's elbow into his side, or the glare that was being sent his way by Naruto. Ino looked between triumphant and worried, as well as a little confused.

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath before walking away a frown on his face, he wasn't comfortable with a lot of affection. The Nara boy had been surprised by the impromptu kiss, and had let the others slide and he had to admit a warm happy ball formed in his stomach every time he let her kiss him. But now brown haired boy had hurt her feeling and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

The rest of them watched in silence, none of them could remember a time that Shikamaru and Kagome weren't talking to each other and happy. This seemed like it had a deeper undercurrent and different tone than the childish ones that they were so used to. The two blondes and the Akimichi boy shared a glance between the three of them, it seemed like Ino's prompt had upset the balance of nature and they were all just a little scared of the change.

"I take that back, he'd just as awkward as you were Shikaku." Inoichi snickered, kids were so much fun. The smallest change in their world meant that the universe itself was set on its ear.

"Like I said, there still kids." Kakashi replied, giving them a look that proclaimed exactly how right he was. Though he did wonder what had happened between them that would make Kagome act so upset, being so near a teenager made things so much more unbalanced. The silver haired ninja had hated being a child more than a teenager, the academy taught you all the control you needed to know. Right now, they were learning how to be adults in small child like bodies and their wasn't a thing to be done about it besides letting nature take its own course.


	29. Stolen

I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Ugh this is a tough goal..seven chapters in one week…bleargh. Anyway here's an update!

Chapter 29

Kagome sniffed, this was the longest time that she'd gone without talking to Shikamaru and it had gone from bad to worse. Earlier that hadn't been talking to each other and after people started talking about it, Shikamaru had started to ignore and avoid her completely and it made the blued girl want to sob. She could honestly say that she missed Shikamaru more than anything she'd ever imagined.

So for the last three weeks Kagome had tried to be okay, but she was on the verge of breaking down. Because of how Iruka liked them to sit them in class they sat right next to each other in class but they didn't speak to each other and Shikamaru wouldn't even look her in the eye anymore and that hurt more than anything.

Choji and Naruto tried to make it better but they couldn't do anything unless the two of them sat down and talked. The problem was Kagome didn't know if she could say anything without breaking down into tears, and she knew Shikamaru hated tears more than anything. Because of her upset and not wanting to bother her mother or father, Kagome had taken to going to the shrine and often times ended up crying beneath one of the god trees. So far she'd managed to hide most of her upset from the adults and her friends but the young nin in training wasn't sure how long that would last.

The Sarutobi girl sighed, she didn't feel up to going to the shrine and she certainly didn't want to go home. Kurenai was due to give birth soon like within the next month and she tended to always been in pain because the baby was laying on her spine. It was hard for Kagome to watch that as well. Souta had been spending a lot of time with their cousins because Shouko had agreed to watch the smaller boy until Kurenai was better.

Looking up Kagome was slightly surprised as to where her feet had lead her, she was at the park that she had meet Choji and Shikamaru for the first time. Looking over the hill, Kagome could only sigh today just seemed to be a bad day. Inhaling deeply the girl marched up the hill before plopping down beneath Shikamaru's favorite tree. She didn't come here as much as she used to, this place had bittersweet memories. She was still young enough to remember the treatment that she'd received from her biological mother, and had talked with both her adopted mother and her aunt about the conditions that she'd been found under.

This whole thing with Shikamaru reminded her of that time in her life and it made her feel unwanted and it was the worse feeling in the world. Kagome knew that she needed to talk to Shikamaru but she didn't know how without being ridiculous about it. Drawing her knees up Kagome simply curled into a ball, maybe she just needed some more time alone?

Shikamaru sighed, he'd been getting a lot of flak but he'd also been getting a lot of concerned looked to these mostly came from his mom, and Choji, though Naruto and Shino had started giving him looks to like what was he doing. For once Shikamaru didn't know what he was doing he'd never had to navigate relationships before, he was just used to being in one state of mind just like every other student in this school. Now his state of mind was scattered all over the place, this was like the one and only time that he and Choji had gotten into an argument it just left the shadow using boy unbalanced.

So as he usually did Shikamaru found himself looking for his tree in the park to calm down and think things over, only he didn't expect Kagome to be curled up in a ball looking like she'd cried herself out. Instead of walking away like he had for the last week and acting like his father, Shikamaru forced himself to calm down and be direct.

"Kagome." Shikmaru wasn't being loud but he knew that she had hear him considering the way her body had stiffened. When he sat beside his friend, something inside him clenched when she seemed to curl more tightly in on herself. Sighing to himself, Shikamaru settled beside the girl before pulling her into his lap, he didn't know what to say anymore to make it better. Relief eventually rose in him, when she began to cling to him like he was the only thing that mattered.

The small Sarutobi girl just huddled closer plastered against him, she didn't like the awkwardness that seemed to float around them. "Can we not be upset anymore? I don't like not talking to you, I don't like that your avoiding me. It's like you don't me anymore." _It's like you don't want me anymore like my mom._ Kagome sniffled at the through that followed, there were some things she couldn't say out loud, it was as if she vocalized them it would just make things worse.

Shikamaru snorted, "I don't like it either, the next time we have issues then we have to talk to each other." He knew that he was only eleven but he also knew that this avoidance thing that the two of them wasn't very good for you. His father and mother never avoided talking about things and he was relatively sure that this was something that was long overdue. When they had been little Choji and he had noticed odd little quirks that Kagome had but no one had been willing to explain. As they had gotten older they had eventually realized it had come from a bad home life, as their parents called it but neither of them had been willing to talk about it. They hadn't wanted to push the younger girl, but they did continuously worry about what exactly had happened.

"Okay." Kagome muttered quietly trying to get as close to him as possible. "What…what do you want to know?" The young Sarutobi girl couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding taking over her. Shikamaru was going to ask her something that she really, really didn't want to talk about.

"You keep hiding from us and a lot of us know that, but sometimes we do or say something and you cringe. Or you get more clingy, then you back off like your waiting for us to tell you to stop. It's confusing for most of us." Shikamaru replied, he wasn't going to push her away again. Sighing, Shikamaru simply rubbed her back like his mother did the few times he could remember being upset.

Kagome could only make a distressed noise, the idea that anyone would know made her feel so ashamed. It was different to tell her family, but what if her friends looked at her differently? The girl could only shake her head in disagreement, she didn't want them to know about that sort of thing.

Shikamaru could only sigh, there really wasn't a way he could force it out of her without doing something drastic and none of the ideas that came to mind were worth it. Instead he simply held onto her and hoped that things never got this bad again. Looking around, Shikamaru was surprised that it had gotten as dark as it had. "Come on, Kagome we need to go home before it gets too late. Kurenai is more than likely getting worried."

Kagome simply nodded, she didn't feel like talking just an un-ending relief that things were going to go back to normal even if things weren't right yet. Moving slowly the young raven eyed girl stood up, Shikamaru followed minutes after and Kagome couldn't help but to snag his hand and lace their fingers. When they looked at each other it was a quiet understanding that this wasn't going to happen again.

As they walked it seemed very odd as it kept getting darker, at a much faster pace than normal. Eventually it was slowly becoming pitch black and neither of them would be able to see anything. Before it became too dark they shared a look, this could only be genjutsu by why would anybody be using in on them?

Suddenly Kagome could only give a cry when in the darks Shikamaru's hand was ripped away from her own, she could hear the older boy struggling before a soft cry of pain and then it was silent again. "Shikamaru! Let me go! Shikamaru!" Kagome struggled violently at the hands that were holding on to her, biting scratching and kicking with everything that she was, the young girl knew that she had to get away or something horrible was going to happen she needed to get to her friend. And just as quickly her struggles stopped a sharp pain seemed to echo through her head, before the darkness clear and all she could see was a bright afternoon, and lazy clouds rolling by before her vision went black.

"Hmmph, god this little brat was awful." A female voice snarked in amusement, the little Sarutobi girl had fought tooth in nail to get out of her grasp but the pretty little girl hadn't quiet managed. Honestly she felt sorry for the girl, Sachi the girl's mother was a useless piece of shit and had every intention of selling the girl to the highest bidder. The boy on the other hand, well they simply couldn't leave him there or he'd alert the nearest nin to come after the two of them.

`"Well, let's take off I have no intentions on getting caught or killed." The male replied, lifting the boy's body he easily rested the kid over his shoulder before taking the other brat from his partner for the same treatment, maybe they could get a bonus for bringing another kid for sell, or maybe selling him their selves.

The woman nodded before both of them took off, normally they would have waited for the night but this had been a prime opportunity and they couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately for the kidnappers, an ape named Koaku had watched the entire thing. Unfortunately she was too far away to do anything to stop the kidnappers from following. Instead she sent an emergency beckon that allowed all other summons of her clan as well the summoners of the clan which allowed them to know what was happening.

O o O o O o O

Asuma felt like his heart was going to burst from the terror and horror of the thought that his daughter had been taken, this was much worse than anything that he could imagine. Konoha was supposed to be a safe place to raise his daughter and she'd been snatched as easily as you pleased in broad daylight, as well as Shikamaru. They wouldn't even know if the boy was alive until they caught up with the two home wreckers. Shikaku was furious, and Tsume as well as Kakashi had been called in to help the hunt down the two nin's that had taken the children.

From the short random messages that had been sent, the nin's had been foreign one male and one female. They had used something to disorient the two children, before separating them by force. Once the children where unconscious they had taken off as quickly as they could, Koaku had followed and was giving them a clear view of where the children were being taken.

Now they were gathering to go after the bastards but they really had no idea as to why to children had been taken. Koaku could only send short sporadic messages over the connection she shared with her clan, and summoner. Because of this they were having to piece things together bit by bit, and it was simply taking to long. Asuma knew that he was acting rashly in the way he wanted to go after his daughter, but all parents felt the need to protect their children and for this one time he had failed completely. He'd kept her safe, four years he had kept her safe and away from the dangers that came with being related to the Hokage.

"As you know the group of you have been gathered to go after my granddaughter. Asuma, Kakashi, Tsume, and Shikaku, you will be taking the short radios with you. I also expect updates via the summons. I want to know who did this, I want to know why, and I want to know what they are going to do with the children they have taken. If they can be brought back alive then do so, if not slaughter them." Sarutobi spoke calmly and quietly, and within a blink of the eye all four of them were off. While he's son was off reclaiming his grandchild, he was going to find out who let those two shit stains into his home. Then all nin's that were on guard duty were going to be in a lot of pain from remedial lessons, while the barrier team would be implementing new ways of keeping those who wanted to cause harm out.

The four man team took off with a vengeance, Tsume was in the lead with her partner Kuromaru, on either side of her were Shikaku and Asuma while Kakashi took up the back. The Inuzuka woman could only sudden at the killing intent the three men behind her were putting off, but she knew that if it had been Kiba that had been taken she would be in the same state. They were going at a rough pace but all of them were used to such missions thankfully. Once they returned council was going to be in an uproar, three kidnappings within ten years wasn't something that they would want to brag about. Not only that but the kidnappings had all been clan heirs which wasn't something that was considered acceptable by the clans of Konoha. The fact this time it was the first born granddaughter of the Hokage meant when the shit finally hit the fan in that meeting several people were more than likely going to get burned.

Hours seemed to pass as they followed the trail, it was obvious that the Sarutobi summon's had been through the area, they all had a distinct smell that was easy to track. The summon had also left tell mark all along the way to ensure that they were on the right path. According to Kuromaru several of the paths had been false and it could have taken them days to be able to discover which one was correct

As the hours passed true night settled in making it harder to track, they could no longer see the summons tells and Kuromaru was becoming confused by the multiple trails that had been created. Once it became impossible for the four of them to go on for the night, they found a secure campsite to settle down for the night. They would be ready when the son began to rise.

"Asuma, how long will Koaku last as a summon? I mean if we are running for several weeks, she'll run out of chakra." Tsume was more worried about that fact then anything, they would have to split up if the trails continued to branch and the summon ran out of chakra.

"Koaku generally slow releases chakra more than any of the summons I have, she watches over Kagome all day every day. We have a week to find them before Koaku's chakra becomes too low for her to do anything. I just resummoned her this morning." Asuma could understand that concern, it was something that had been bothering him as well they would just had to hope for the best and continue in the morning.

"What I don't understand is why they took the girl, I thought Sachi had given up?" Shikaku knew about Kagome's mother and he was concerned as to what the woman would do to his son, or Kagome for that matter.

Kakashi could only sigh, "There are rumors she's been involved with child slavery. Kagome would be something Sachi could "sell" legally, the fact that Kagome is that granddaughter of the Hokage doesn't matter to anyone. From the info, Sachi is a psychopath she doesn't care about right or wrong just what she can get for it."

All four of the ninja had to shutter, they had all done things that they regretted in life. They had all taken lives that really shouldn't have ended but as a Ninja if you were ordered to do something you did it damn the personal consequences. The brief conversation had put them all into perspective they would have to get the kids back, they might be rough to outsiders but to those who were part of their own the need to protect them was overwhelming. Kakashi was first to watch that night while the others bedded down for the night, the only thing he could think was this mission was going to feel like forever and pray that they got there in time.


	30. Crushed

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha.

**This has not been beta-ed, feel free to point out issues but if you are not specific I'm not going to hunt for them. I do my best to make corrections by re-reading what I have written hopefully I've caught some if not most of my mistakes. If any one feels up to being a beta, I have MANY chapters you can fix up for me. On another note I noticed things weren't the most clear so I tried to fix that up for yall.  
**

**On another note I have a question for everyone who's reading, what do you prefer in a chapter? Dialogue, action, description? What makes a story come alive for you?**

Chapter 30

Kagome gasped softly, she felt like she was short on breath and slightly sick to her stomach. Iruka had said that those could be side effects from certain types of drugs, the woozy feeling that she had made her certain. Looking around her eyes tried to focus but it was hard and very dark were ever she was. Trying to hold in the fear that was wrapped around her, Kagome shivered before looking down with shock. Her clothing was gone!

Why would they take their clothing? Shifting, Kagome went still when her hand hit something warm. Turning Kagome breathed, before her eyes focused enough to see that Shikamaru was beside her and just as naked as she was. Stifling tears, the small Sarutobi girl wrapped her arms around the boy before closing her eyes. Fear seemed to keep her attached to the older boy, the sudden jerk in her arms caused a panic to raise up inside her.

"Kagome?" The dark haired girl could only nod against his shoulder, Shikamaru's hands were running over her and from the small muffled noise he knew they were both naked. A deep sigh seemed to move her body up and down against his chest, before Shikamaru hissed violently as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Kagome scrambled, to help him up it was only then that she could see the thick blood that coated the side of his head.

"Shika…your head." Kagome gently touched his brow lightly, even as the boy hissed in pain. The gash was large but not horribly deep, but the amount of blood that covered the side of his face was still a bit sticky indicating it had recently stopped bleeding. His eyes were having a hard time dilating and it made her worry.

Shikamaru just took a deep breath before touching it lightly himself, it stung horribly and made his head ache. The stickiness made him wince before he forced himself to breath, blinking was about the only way he could see anything. Finally the brunette moved his hands through her hair and could feel the huge goose egg as well as the wince against his shoulder.

They had to get out of this place, these people were going to hurt them of that the shadow user was positive. Shikamaru huffed, looking around they were locked into a cage it was at the back of the room and there weren't any windows. The one door and a thin line of light signifying they were probably in a closet or storage room, possibly a warehouse of some sort. When the door opened and a light came on, Shikamaru pulled Kagome close keeping both of their bodies covered for the most part.

"Hmph, you little brats finally woke up I see." The man's cold eyes looked over them much like a farmer evaluating a horse. They were both rather young to be sold to breeding companies, but they were also young enough to be trained for a particular nation. This was also the age where they were the most pliant the easiest to manipulate and destroy to rebuild. The Nara boy was possibly the most interesting, he had a decent amount of chakra that reacted every time someone got near the cage, whipping out and leaving marks.

Shikamaru could only take in everything that came with being in this sort of place, several other cages lined the walls of the room. The two cages on either side of the door were the largest and were full of infants and children below the age of 4 or so. Several he had no idea what age they could be, they felt like they could be older then himself or even younger than Kagome, and the cages between them and the door were over shadowed by the presence of the man in front of them. The man in front of the lot of them didn't have an ounce of compassion inside him and would more than likely cause as much hurt as he could.

Once a month or so ago, Shikamaru had been allowed to meet Ibiki Morino. Ibiki still had some humanity and compassion inside him even Ibiki with his work in interrogation hadn't deadedned himself like this man, the man had dead greedy eyes that would promise pain and retribution to anyone that wronged him. Shikamaru shuddered at the thought of the man before him, this wasn't going to end well of that he was sure.

Instead of saying anything the two Konoha children simply clung to one another, both looking at the man before them with something akin to suspicion. That was some that all children had been taught, they were to look out for one another. The teamwork behind the ninja of Konoha was beyond reproach, but could they really leave the other children to that kind of fate?

The two of them shared a glance before huddling closer, together before the man turned with a sickeningly amused expression on his face. They had no idea that he was the one they would have to watch out for the most, he wasn't so much interested in selling and capturing children as he enjoyed watching the joy leave the parents eyes as they died and knew that their children were going too be sold into slavery.

A sigh of relief went around the room before the lights the other children could only shuffle about in their own metal prisons, it was such an odd thing to share with another person. Silence seemed to be the prevailing action between them as if it getting caught talking wasn't something any of them could handle.

"What's going to happen?" Kagome whispered soft, Shikamaru could only sigh. There was really no telling what was going to happen to them in this sort of situation. It wasn't like either of them had been trained for escape at kidnapping, it was so strange for them to be in such a position.

"Uh…duh…you're doing to be sold as a whore, or a brood mare." A young voice rang out, high and tenor. The two of them could only look toward the person speaking at their left, there wasn't any reason to talk like that to others. There was such a hateful tone in that voice as if he was disgusted with such idocy.

"Jak there's no reason to say things like that." A softer calmer voice spoke up. A boy in the cage beside them spoke up, a disapproving tone in his voice. It was bad enough that most of the boys came back broken, beaten or raped, terrifying the girl wouldn't help them at all.

"Koaku probably followed us." Kagome spoke up again, ignoring the anger that seemed to be rolling off of Shikamaru in waves. Both of them could understand the situation that they were in, the best thing to do was keep calm or they would be in more trouble. The appearance of submission would either make things more difficult, they would have to find a line that would by them more time.

"That just means Konoha knows that we were taken." Shikamaru spoke softly, forcing himself to keep from reacting. He hadn't had a temper tantrum since he was three, but the shadow using ninja wanted to have one at the moment.

"You're from Konoha?" The earlier rude boy asked, almost as if he was disgusted that they had been taken. They were supposed to be really strong, so why was it these two had managed to get taken so easily.

"Yeah….." That was all either of them could say, "They were probably after me." Kagome muttered so quietly that she was certain only Shikamaru could hear. Kagome could feel Shikamaru nod against her head in agreement all the while tightening his arms around her.

A quiet seemed to settle over the two of them, while soft murmurs could be head from the smaller baby's at the front of the room. Shikamaru shifted silently, taking a deep breath the shadow user began to manipulate his hands behind Kagome's back into seals before the shadowed room around him allowed him to "see" with the shadows. The stiffening and slow but quiet breathing told Kagome exactly what was happening, the shadows around her literally felt warmer and she could only snuggle into his lap and chest.

It was odd being pressed against Shikamaru naked but at this particular moment, the Sarutobi girl didn't really care. The soft gasps and yelps of the boys around them, made her smile weakly it meant they could feel the slow crawl of the shadow users chakra as it explored the room around them. There was no telling how long they would be locked up inside of this cage, they would have to be very careful. Shikamaru jerked violently, that had been much harder than he could remember something about this entire room seemed to suppress chakra. It probably made it much harder for the children that came in to wake up, which made selling them easier.

Shikamaru paused, that was exactly what this was for some of them. There weren't any girls inside which meant that girls sold much faster, the next question was how long did they have breaks between cells? Shikamaru knew that if he was given enough time he could open all the cages with the physical use of chakra but he would be low afterwards. Of all the times to be low on chakra it had to be right now didn't it?

"Kagome can you make a light seal?" Shikamaru finally asked, that was something that had been knew on the curriculum at the academy. Small seals had been added like storage seals, as well as light and flash seals. Shikamaru understood them but he wasn't naturally apt at them like Kagome or Naruto or Shino.

Kagome simply frowned before she nodded, pulling back slightly the girl shifted until she was sitting on one of Shikamaru's thighs. Sighing softly, the young girl pulled up the thumb and bit down roughly causing a gurgling whimper to echo inside the room. Hissing, Kagome shifted so she was one her knees before beginning to write out something across the dusty floor. Sometimes having things done by muscle memory, god it hurt so bad the dust and whatever else was on the floor seemed to rub in the worse way possible.

A soft huff resounded, but Kagome could almost feel the looks that were being sent her way as if to ask what she thought that she was doing. Instead she focused on putting the smallest amount of chakra that she could into the small seal. A slow glow seemed to overtake the room, and all heads focused on the small girl that was looking down at the floor with a pained expression on her face. Thick hair fell over her shoulders keeping most of her torso from view, while large blue eyes stared out of a small pale yet cute face while pink lips parted lightly before an equally pink tongue licked out to wet the sore pieces of flesh.

Slowly small amounts of chakra was added until it was easy to see that the room was actually more rounded oval like than square, the cage to their left happened to have a quiet boy with narrow yet brilliant teal-greenish eyes that looked at her with curiosity. To red spots stood out above the boy's eyes above white thin eyebrows, his nose was thin but strong while full lips seemed to frown as he studied the girl in front of him. The boys hair was the same soft shade of white, and fell to his shoulder but two pieces tied together with red ribbon of some sort kept the longer pieces together they fell just below his collar bone. Kagome promptly averted her eyes up, this boy was just as naked as Shikamaru was but it was rather obvious that he was older from the way his body was shaped.

Turning her eyes farther they found another boy with ink black hair and a scowl on his face, his hair was longer than her own falling well below his hips. The face was rather feminine while his body was very thin and perhaps elegant. The boy's eyes were large and almost had an innocent look to them if it weren't for the flinty brown they turned as they seemed to glare at the smaller girl. Below the brown orbs were slim stripes of purple that reminded Kagome of Kiba's red fangs, Kagome could only frown before her eyes went wide. There was a dead body sitting in the cage between him and the baby cage, the child's eyes were open and a thin film of dust seemed to have settled over the dried balls. The boy's formerly pink lips were pale as the rest of the body, he'd been broken blood had dried around him and it seemed that the living boy was completely immune to the death around him. The boy's hair had been a soft sunshine yellow and from what she could tell his eyes had been a soft blue, just like Naruto. Kagome forced herself to take a deep breath before looking away, the Sarutobi girl could feel Shikamaru stiffen he'd probably seen the little dead sunshine boy to.

Sitting back, Kagome crawled into his lap without asking and was more than thankful when those thin arms wrapped around her middle and he let her bury her face against his neck. What if Shikamaru ended up like that? What if she ended up like that and Shikamaru had to stay in a cage with her corpse? The soft sniffle that left her ended with soft sobbing, she couldn't look at the rest of the room. The babies or little kids were at the front of the room just reminded the young girl of her younger siblings, and she couldn't look at the right side of the room for fear of what would be there.

It didn't take long before the room was once more dark, none of them said a thing as the light faded from the room. Besides being taken out to model or be put on the auction that was the most light they had seen in a long time let alone a girl, most of the girls were gone before they ever saw the light of day. Some of them had been kept for whores for the men working there, the rest were sold relatively quickly especially those with a special attribute or skill.

Five sets of eyes studied the two children in the middle cage, generally most children thrown inside didn't have enough chakra to override the simple suppressant seals that had been placed on the room. The two of them did, four eyes were beginning to plot and calculate one looked on in a broken empty fashion that light had been so pretty to them. The empty dead eyes had seen that soft glow several times, but the men at the facility healed him before he could walk into it.

O o O o O o O

Neither of them had any idea how long they had been sleeping, hours seemed to roll together in the inky darkness that encased the group of them. The soft breathing was interrupted by the occasional snore or sleepy cough; both of them were still exhausted even after they had been sleeping. Kagome sighed softly before cuddling closer; they had been plastered against one another during the night. It seemed like the safest choice and it was extremely cold in the room, the young girl wasn't sure how the other boys were able to stay in their cages by themselves.

A shifting click had all of the children that were trapped looking up, the lights were now on while the door was sliding open. The man before them wasn't the same as the crueler looking one from before, this one was slender and seemed to be trying to give off a kind yet friendly air, but really it was a bit late for that. Kagome and Shikamaru could only glance at the other before they both moved back away from the front of the cage.

It was an unconscious movement that had the young man frowning at them as if he disapproved of their actions. The chill in the air seemed to grow before both of them were startled by the movement then being sprayed in violently cold water that had both of them shivering horribly. The spray was hard and stung their skin with it's cold, almost like small needles were hitting them over and over again. After the thick sprays of water they found themselves being sprayed down with semi warm air, none of the children moved causing the friendly looking man to scowl before turning on his heel and walking out the small doorway only for the door to slam shut causing all of them to wince.

"Ano, can they hear us?" Kagome finally asked softly, after several minutes passed. She certainly didn't want the friendly looking man to come back, he was just as scary as the big man with the empty eyes.

A boy to the right of them spoke up, Kagome still didn't know what the entire room looked like. The boys voice was soft, sweet calm "No not really. They try to check on us at least every three or four hours."

Shikamaru groaned, before nudging Kagome again before she nodded against his shoulder. Kagome was pretty close to being a sensor, the chakra suppressant they had used to had blocked that, but now that they were stuck in here they were going to have to a good holding on the area around them. Suddenly the soft glow once more shown across the room, it was a little stronger than before but allowed them to see that their cage was really outfitted with everything. Even the back of the cages had small flaps that would push food through, neither of them knew how to respond.

Shikamaru sighed, before really looking around there were really only four cages on either side of them along with the baby bed toward the front the room. That meant there were only nine cages in all, the two on the left of them held a boy each and the one farthest from them a corpse that the feminine boy seemed to be diligently ignoring. The white haired boy was the looking at the glowing seal with something akin to love in his eyes, on the other side of them were the three boys that Kagome hadn't been able to look at after seeing the corpse.

The three boys to their right seemed much worse for wear than the two on the left, one boy had some sort of seal on his hands that covered something, his purple eyes were studying them with a kin intelligence. He looked to be a rather normal boy; his hair was a bit on the long side with a rattail running down the top of his back. What stumped Shikamaru was the fact that the boy had several features that reminded him of Kagome, the eye shape as well as the nose and lips were very similar. This boy was right next to the babies on the right, it really was a strange layout at least in Shikamaru's mind.

The other looked rather feminine in a different way, and seemed much calmer with soft gray eyes and almost androgynous features. He was looking over them in a quiet manner, none of them really talked, it was as if they were resigned to living as a slave or tool for the rest of their lives and it disturbed something inside Shikamaru. The last boy was in the cage nearest them looked like death warmed over to be honest, his eyes were empty and it was like he didn't have any life left inside him.

"Do any of you know how many men or women are working here?" Shikamaru finally asked, they didn't need to get to loud there was a possibility that there would be able to hear what they said. The shadow user didn't want to call them down around them, he had no idea how volatile the men could get and no one needed to get punished for speaking to loudly.

The androgynous boy looked at him with a measuring look while the rest of them simply stared, it was such an awkward silence. "There are seven men and three women, one of them is a woman called Sachi. The first man to come in is Aka, the second is Ororo, and they are the ones that come in the most. They are also the cruelest, if the light comes on you'll need to cut your chakra or you'll be like us and be bound. That's what these little tags in our ears are." The feminine boy replied, lifting a strange seal that was applied to an earring, they were being tagged like cattle.

Kagome frowned, gnawing roughly on her bottom lip she didn't want to be sealed it was bad enough using just a small amount of chakra. There wasn't really anything that they could do, they would simply have to wait. There were too many questions about this place, the ventilation was the same as the food flaps none of them would be able to get away. The only relief that could be seen was the fact that she knew her father would be coming.

The click of light startled Kagome badly causing the light seal to wink out as another man walked in a look of confusion on his face. The man looked to be the same age as her father, but this man had gingery brown hair and black colored eyed, he wasn't a very distinct looking person and could probably fade into the back ground rather easily. The man was looking into the center cage with a blank expression on his face, it was obvious that he'd been working with things like this for a long time.

Kagome scrambled backwards as did Shikamaru when the man began to walk toward them, all of the children except the sunshine corpse and the empty-eyed boy scattered backwards. It might have been instinct, but something about this man rubbed them each the wrong way. The door on the two Konohan children's cage opened, lightening quick he grabbed Shikamaru with ease before forcing the boy to stand still at the center of the room.

"Be still." The man spoke, his voice was deep and had no inflection that came with most speakers. Instead the gingery-brunette, forced Shikamaru to spread his legs even with his shoulders before lifting the boy's arms ensuring that a clear view could be seen of his torso. The man eventually told the boy to turn around and could only twitch when the boy grudgingly did as asked. Boys didn't need detailed pictures like girls did, girls also tended to fight more after a certain age.

The cage once more opened before the ebony haired girl was dragged out kicking and screaming, the boy was shoved back roughly. The man frowned at the vicious punch that had been applied to his body by both the children, keeping them together would make it harder to get them out to show the customers. "Stop struggling."

Kagome scowled, squirming viciously back and forth and tugging desperately on her own forearm that was trapped within the man's grasp. A sharp yank had the man stumbling, before sharp k-nines sunk into his arm, his cry of pain seemed to ring in the oval shaped room. The ginger man let her go before she backed up, Kagome was practically snarling small but sharp fangs were easy to see. While the Sarutobi clan didn't have a bloodline limit like the Inuzuka or the Uchiha, they did have a summon contract that was tied directly to their family. They had some traits that were found in the monkey or ape family like sharp shaving incisors, a heightened sense of smell, sight and hearing as well as instincts that allowed them to root out those who were a danger to the family.

The man was glaring harshly at the feisty child, it was mildly amusing when she struggled but he hated pain. Grabbing the girl's hair, the man wrapped it around his hand until his hand was threaded down to her scalp, a sharp yank just had the girl hissing and looking up at him with utter disdain. Grabbing one of the girls' arms, he lifted it high forcing the girl to give the customers a proper view of the young nubile body.

A smirk seemed to cover the man's face as he began to manipulate the girl's body, once the alarms seemed to light up in her mind the struggling continued. Unfortunately for the man trying to get Kagome to comply, there was one more side effect that few new about the Sarutobi clan, the monkey contract also affected their strength. Once the little girl got one arm free she slammed her small balled up fist into the underside of the man's hyoid crushing the small bone and forcing it back into the man throat pushing the broken bone into the muscled tongue and further into the upper epiglottis and pharynx.

The man's brown eyes seemed to bulge in shock, before gurgling seemed to respond before blood seemed to spurt forward covering the small fist that was pulled away from his throat. Kagome's eyes were wide, the boys in the cages around her could only look on in something akin to shock, surprise and respect. Kagome continued to back away until her back was pressed to front of the cage, only for it slide open causing her to fall back into Shikamaru's warm hot arms.

Shikamaru was mildly horrified, he was relatively nonchalant about a lot of things. People seeing him naked didn't bother him in the lightest, being manhandled was something he was used to. Keeping calm while that man had put his hands all over Kagome while she protested had been all he could do not to use chakra and strangle the man. Instead he forced himself to be calm and hold the small female body against his, Kagome's mind didn't really understand what had happened. All people that were chakra users were more powerful than those that didn't, those who were bonded to an animal were more animalistic and often times borrowed on the animal's strength. While Shikamaru might not look like it, he was strong because of his families bond with the large deer on their land. The shadow nin didn't say a thing when the door opened to show two men he hadn't seen before pull the dead man out, neither could look at any of the children. Forgetting that they were all trained and dangerous would get them killed, the men and woman running this little ring wouldn't live past this if Shikamaru had any say about the matter. Inside that sharp mind, ideas and plans began to form all the while the idea to get away seemed to become the forefront of all his thoughts.

Edited-2-11-2012


	31. Scream

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha.

**Furaba-Suzume-**o.o….Sesshoumaru is mentioned in cp. 20 as someone in Neji's class…

**Sugar00**- That's vicious love…very very vicious!

**o0KittyBlue0o- **I'm now buried in cookies after three months worth of thrown cookies…thanks, dahlin.

**Wicken25-** While I love input from the readers…I don't need that much! That and I highly doubt that the Hokage could just get up and leave Konoha, that's like asking for an attack from Kumo or Iwa!~

**aznchicki-** DX I'm sorry your upset but I meant for it to be believable!

** everyone else-** thank you for the reviews! I'm sorry if I didn't answer yours personally but I appreciate the time and effort that everyone goes through to give me a review, it makes me feel loved!

Also I would like to apologize to everyone for last year and in advanced for this year, things are going to be tough. Once more I'm going to have to move, and I'm trying to find a job all the while handling 15/18 hours of school. Things are going to go slow but I PROMISE that there will at LEAST be more chapters for LD than last year! Again this hasn't been betaed, it eventually will be until then feel free to point out my mistakes.

Chapter 31

Fur was a tall tell sign that they were headed the right way, the ape that Asuma had assigned to follow Kagome had given them a very solid trail. But the kidnappers had a head start and there were two members versus their group of five which would slow them down. Asuma mentally had been counting the hours that he had not seen his daughter and they were beginning to close on to the 20 hour mark, fear seemed to roll through his heart. What if something happened to Kuranei while he was looking for their daughter? This sort of mental arguement had been rolling around in his head since they had begun running toward their destination four hours earlier.

It had taken a total of six hours before his child had been accepted as missing, and another two hours before the politics had run through council. A fury had been ignited inside him, because his daughter was illegitimate she was considered worth much less than say Shikamaru, or even her cousin Konohamaru. When it had finally been decided, four Jounins had been selected, Asuma was sure if they had refused Shikaku's demand to find his child they would be short a few civilian councilors, and he couldn't blame the man in the least. Most of the ninja had been aghast, not many knew it but for those ninja that wanted a family it made things rather hard. Their bodies had been trained from such an early age to fight, as such the women often times didn't have the fat stores need to carry safely or heavily scarred womb that made carrying children impossible.

If it hadn't been for Koaku none of them had any idea how long it would have taken them to get this far. According to Tsume and Kuromaru there were strange trials that seemed to be rotting and merging with that of animals, it wasn't something that they had seen often. It was a jutsu that was generally taught to high ranking Assassin's. Once it was cast there wasn't much to be done, Koaku's scent and hair trial was the only thing leading the lot of them to the target. The only problem was that as some point Koaku had crossed the rotting scent trail and it was mixed with her own, making it harder and harder to stay on track. The young ape seemed to have sensed that something was wrong, and so had taken to leaving hard scratches that penetrated the trees. The only problem was that it took chakra to cause such damage, every time she made the marks it shortened the amount of time that she had to follow the children, but without the marks they would be utterly lost.

Night was falling, and none of them had really spoken since leaving it was a cool because it was relatively early spring. The wind was starting to pick up while the ground was still soft from debris, decay and dew that seemed to settle throughout the days. The night seemed to be overly clouded and they were all more than a bit scared that it would rain leaving them to try to find scratch marks of a long distance. The slap of feet seemed to be the only thing that echoed around them beside the occasional scuttle of animals trying to escape.

They were all pulled tighter than bow strings, Kakashi was perhaps the only one that wasn't. He was used to these types of missions; this was just something you became used to while being in Anbu. Kidnapping, murder, thieving, most young ninja were eager to join until they discovered exactly everything that came with the code name. It wasn't a walk in the park, they often times got their hands dirty in the worst ways possible, but if they didn't do things from the shadows like they did chaos would likely run Konoha instead of the Daimyo.

The two they were trying to track were very good at hiding their trails meaning they were more than likely missing ninja or those from outside Konoha which was even worse. The hardest part was that there had been no ransom meaning that the two children had been taken for a very different reason. This caused short of worry for the young fathers, while Asuma had several other children Shikaku had only Shikamaru. While Asuma loved his daughter more than life itself, he was concerned of the quiet fury that Shikaku seemed to be emmiting, he hadn't even said his "troublesome" at this point and it was odd to walk on tip toes around someone he'd known most of his life.

The silence just seemed to stretch across them minutes passed and it was slowly becoming harder and harder to see, Kakashi was moved to front his eye sight was much better than anyone else in the team. The silver haired ninja could only sigh, he hated this sort of pressure but this was also very important. He'd spent the last five years watching a very sweet little girl grow up with his son and their friends. As the years had passed the copy ninja had understood why his mentor had loved his genin team so much, Kakashi cared much more than many knew. He had been there for the night terrors, the coughing sickness that seemed to go faster than Gai could ever hope to run. Instead of slowing, Kakashi speed up there was something violent and feral that just rushed beneath his skin a demand to find the missing parts of his family. There speed seemed to increase, they were all used to the harsh pace and nothing would stop them from getting the two clan children back to Konoha even if someone had to die for it.

O o O w O o O w O

"Kagome, Kagome, come on wake up." A soft voice whispered, the darkness was completely and utterly all consuming. Pain was banging forcefully against her temple it was horrible, a dizzying sensation seemed to rock her every time she shifted. The voice calling her seemed to be the familiar, the pain wasn't fading in fact it seemed to amplify with every second that passed, a horrible gasp was pulled from the small frail body. The dark haired girl could vaguely feel a slightly larger calloused hand and fingers laced with her own, silent tears began to fall down pale bruised cheeks.

Shikamaru could only watch in horror, two hours before they had dragged on of his best friends away and a terror so strong seemed to grip at his lungs. When they returned afterwards the quiet dragged on, a limp body had been thrown into the cage next to his with the small boy with the deadened eyes. Kagome was close enough for him to see and touch, but a fear seemed to rise up inside him with a sharp stabbing vein of awareness.

The soft feminine moan of utter pain made him want to cry, instead the Nara boy plastered himself against the cold barred cage and continued to keep hold of the smaller girls hand. There wasn't anything that he could do but stay there beside her, it wasn't right that Kagome had been brutalized in such as way. From what he could see she wasn't horribly injured but hurt enough that she would be sore for days.

"They're going to keep taking her until they beat the submissiveness into her. They hate people that defy them." The gray eyed boy to his right finally spoke, he was the only one that hadn't had a thing to say. "That's what happened to the boy between us in the cage with that girl. They just kept taking him over and over again, they finally broke him. It's why Miroku and I are on this side. Right, is for those that fight, the center cage is for those they aren't certain of and the left are for those that don't bother."

"I see." Shikamaru paused, he wasn't sure how much Kagome could take. The Sarutobi girl had always been tough, even when she refused to talking about the things that offered before her time in Konoha. This was something everyone except the other children knew, Shikamaru was a genius for a reason. Shikamaru was also observant, he'd noticed how it had taken her a long time to meet people and how the smaller girl had clung to those most important to her as if afraid they would disappear. The young Nara boy knew that he didn't have enough experience to help protect Kagome, and he couldn't protect his teammates or anything, he felt useless.

Shikamaru watched, as the light popped on again only for one of the men to once more opening the first cage to his right. Instead of dragging Kagome away, the small dark haired boy was literally picked up and simply taken away. He wasn't sure what to do and simply sighed before lying on the ground, reaching as far as he could the young Nara boy could only gently touch his best friends arms, shoulders and face. It was easy for him to feel that her face was swollen, and that she had a descent sized goose egg on her head. The bump on her head was one of the things that concerned him, head injuries could cause all sorts of problems.

Silence once more reigned supreme over the caged children, they really had nothing to say to one another not when they knew they would likely be sold at some point in the future. Getting to know one another was like asking for heart ache, and for once the silence seemed to drive Shikamaru crazy. This unending dark without wind or any sort of movement made his skin crawl.

Kagome's eyes felt swollen and gritty, she could feel a warm hand running along her skin and it was warm soft and kind. The pain was worse than anything that her father had put her through during the Taijutsu lessons that had been plowed into her head during study sessions at home. Being so much more willowy than her cousin's she had been taught a more fluid version of the Sarutobi fist, it called for her to have better chakra control, speed and agility.

"Shikamaru." Kagome could feel the fingers slipping through her hair pause, before it continued just as gentle and just as loving. It really reminded her of Kurenai, the love that the older woman was willing to impart on her injured, damaged step child always seemed to amaze the younger girl. One day soon, if they managed to get out of this Kagome knew that she was going to answer Shikamaru's polite but silent unasked questions. The other would never understand the horror that occurred in the world, Hinata or Neji might considered some of the things that continued to happen inside the Hyuuga clan but that was something that was slowly changing.

"I'm right here." The finally spoken reply was quiet, but it seemed to shudder and shake with the control that went into his voice. It wasn't right that they were both stuck, trapped like some sort of caged rat. They were humans, they weren't animals, but these people saw them as a sort of live stock and that was all that they would ever be.

Kagome cried softly when she finally moved, which had her best friend in something of a panic attack. Kagome forced dragged herself toward the back corner closest to Shikamaru, almost the instant that she was up the Nara boys arms were around her warm and safe. Silent tears were beginning to fall, there was something wrong with her ankle it felt oddly. There wasn't any horrible pain, but just a harsh numbness that wouldn't allow the swelling appendage to move. There were bruises all over the place, it was hard to remember what had happened before the fist began to hit different part of her body without care. Her fingers ached and seemed to burn from the inside as they curled tight around Shikamaru's side, the warmer they became the more the burn seemed to twist her pretty young face at the pain.

The more Kagome calmed and was allowed to cling to the older boy, the more the memories seemed to filter through her mind. They had spoken about the first kill in class, had learned that it was kill or be killed, that this was the way of ninja and there was nothing that could be done about it. Medic ninja would kill to save their patients and keep their teammates hale and whole. The blue eyed girl began rubbing her hands, one curled against her stomach and the other pulling Shikamaru close smashing the two of them together against the bars. A sharp breath had the young girl closing her eyes and a larger warmer hand began to rub her hand, a sort of relief seemed to run through the blue eyed girl. Shikamaru didn't hate her, the Nara boy had watched her hand go through that man's throat just as sure as Kagome had felt flesh and bone give way to the abilities that came to those born of a contract member.

"I killed him…do you think daddy will hate me?" The stifled and broken off sob just had the arm wrapped around her shoulder seemed to tighten almost to a painful point and Kagome could only think it was nice to feel something because everything seemed far away and numb. Instead, a cold nose and prickly eyelashes seemed to press hard against her cheek.

Kagome could feel Shikamaru vibrate as he spoke and it was a nice feeling, "I think Asuma-san will just be happy that you're alive. Asuma-san will never blame you for wanting to live…ever." Shikamaru knew he was vibrating in anger and he didn't know how to contain it, how to fix everything that had gone wrong. A voice in the back of his head asked, if this wasn't partially his fault for the idiot things that had happened between the two of them.

The solid creek of the door sliding open again, had them going quiet as the light flicked on in an annoying buzzing that just rode the Nara boys nerves over the coals. The boy they had taken was back, and the man was frowning at the two of them as if he disapproved of what the two of them were doing, as if it was going directly against Kagome's first lesson. Shikamaru didn't know if they could overcome Kagome's need to seek out comfort, it was natural and they were still children. Kagome had been allowed to find comfort between her friends and family and because of it, there was almost an over inflated understanding that she could hug who ever she damn well felt like it.

The door on Kagome's cage slung forward with a creek and the smaller boys body was literally thrown on top of Kagome causing her to nearly shriek in surprise at the cold body that was now laying across her lap. Instead the arm that was twisted against her body, gently touched the boy before a flinch ripped through her at the wetness that came away with her own hand. It was thicker than water and Kagome was absolutely terrified and the musky scent that seemed to surround the boy. Hot wetness seemed to press against her chest were the boy's chest rested, and she could only see the gleam across Shikamaru's eyes.

Kagome didn't think asking if the other boy was alright would make things better at this point, she could vaguely hear the boy whimper all the while trying to cuddle closer. The tears hadn't stopped but a broken mumbling seemed to star about warmth and the bright lights that he wasn't allowed to go to, once more Shikamaru's fingers seemed to bite into her shoulder and it was a comfort even if she might bruise. At least she could feel something anything, this was a knew and impressive form of hell.

Instead of trying to move the boy, Kagome felt her body just begin to shut down the emotional and physical toil on her body seemed to pull at the recesses of her mind. Blue eyes fluttered shut, the Sarutobi girl couldn't stop the sleep that seemed to pull at her eyes. Maybe if she went to sleep it would all be over? Maybe she would be back at home and go climb in bed with her mother and father because of this nightmare?

Kagome shivered and tired to shove closer to Shikamaru through the large bars that kept them separated, "I'm going to sleep. I don't think I can stay away anymore." Kagome's breathing slowed to soft sleepy little breaths before things when quiet and Shikamaru simply weighted. He hated these people, and he felt that they were going to cause them more problems, so many more problems.

Silence reign across the room until a horrible, horrible scream began to pang inside the room of cages startling all of the children out of their quiet. Kagome froze, as both she and Shikamaru jerked out of sleep trying to figure out what was making that sort of noise. It was high, painful crying, the gaspy breaths weren't something would expect to wake up. Kagome could only blink, she felt very disoriented and it took her a very long time to realize that the child that had been thrown on top of her was screaming his lungs out.

Kagome could only glance at Shikamaru, even though they couldn't see each other anymore it was more of a reflex than anything. The dark haired girl had no idea why the small boy was screaming, if it was some horrible pain he would have been screaming when he'd been thrown in with her. Pulling away from her wrapped up position against the bars and Shikamaru, Kagome gently began to touch the boy finding his shoulders the young girl could only stiffen up at the slick substance that seemed to cover her hands. Pulling one hand close Kagome could only give it a small sniff, it smelt vaguely like vinegar but also had an underlying copper scent. The Sarutobi girl just swallowed, nobody wanted their handed to be covered in the sweet and blood of someone else.

The blue eyed girl forced herself to be calm and tried to be as kind as she could, Kagome new that she was murmuring nonsense and it wasn't until she began to shiver that the young girl realized how cold the boy draped across her form was. It wasn't normal to be that cold, frowning the dark haired girl easily found the boy's mouth before pushing two fingers in. Her eyes widened with a sickened understanding, the smaller boy's mouth was both dry and just as cold as the rest of his body. The boy was dying, and there was nothing that Kagome could do except wait with him. She could hear Shikamaru asking her a question, the young girl's only response was to lean against the cage and her friend and listen as the breathy little pants began to get weaker and weaker. It took nearly an hour for the little boy to die, and when he finally passed on Kagome simply laid his body out straight before curling into a tight ball next to Shikamaru and let the old boy comfort her. A solemn quiet seemed to settle over them, not even Jakotsu was making crude comments and really it was for the best none of them had listened while a child died. It was unknown to them at the time, but the children that were old enough to understand what had happened promised themselves that they wouldn't end up like that dying without an idea as to what was up or down.


	32. Sachi

**Previous Disclaimers apply**

**Please post opinions, thoughts and corrections in reviews. Thanks.**

Chapter 32

It was now a total of 36 hours that the two Konoha children had been taken, they had been lucky. The trail was clear and they were beginning to catch up to Koaku, recently he received another report from the ape. She'd taken to exploring and had begun to send feed back to them, apparently one of the men that worked at this particular compound had been killed in some way. His body was laying sprawled out not far away on a trash heap it seemed they were getting ready to burn the body, though the man's head had been taken. Indicating that they were probably dealing with missing ninja, this wouldn't be easy for any of them.

It had been getting harder to follow the trail left by the young ape, but now that they were in a better area it had become much easier. They would soon be upon the compound yet they had no information to go on. They had also started to find human paths that were all leading into a certain area, which begged the question was how long this whole operation had been around. The only other thought that could come to the ninja was why this hadn't been reported before now.

A quiet sense of unease seemed to roll along each of them, even Kuromaru seemed particular disturbed by the turn of events that seemed to be leading up to something much bigger. The steady shuffling of running feet seemed to echo around the four ninja and nin-dog, there was a bit of a breeze that was easily ignored by the group of focused ninja. It was early morning making the world wet and more than a little chilly, the wet coolness wasn't noticed by any of the ninja.

It was only upon finding the building that the lot of them stopping to take in more of the sight in front of them. It wasn't a wooden, it was actually a very dark forest green tin looking building but then again looks could be deceiving.

Asuma spoke softly to the others as they continued to survey the area, there were several trip lines used to alert others and Koaku had more than likely found most of them; which meant they would simply have to sneak through the obstacles, before getting into the building itself. The unfortunate thing was they didn't know how many children were inside the building or how well armed or equipped the enemy ninja were. The four ninja shared looks before they split, they would meet back within an hour and that was when the real attack would start.

O o O w O o O

An alarm seemed to blare inside the compound, the pounding of feet could be heard and the children could only wait. Yelling could be heard, all of them were being quiet as it was easy to hear what was being said. Apparently, there had been some sort of disagreement as to how to keep the children. There had also been a disagreement on what children to take, Kimimaro and the child named Haku had both been found together in Kiri during the blood purges. No one gave a rats ass about the two boys and it had been relatively easy for them to find a buyer. Jakotsu was feminine enough that it would be easy to find him work in a brothel, especially those that catered to men interested in children. Miroku on the other hand was the owners son, there were two people in charge of this compound, one being a woman named Sachi and a man named Minwei. Miroku was the son of Sachi, and he had been sold six times he had also been raised to kill his owners once the money had been sent to his mother. The seal on his hand controlled every aspect of his life, and from the way the men outside were talking the purple eyed boy was never going to be free.

The men eventually stopped jawing at one another, only for another an explosion to cause them to simply leave all the children trapped inside the cages as the sound of fighting continued. The cages themselves seem to tremble and shake as the sounds of shouting and the clang of metal hitting one another could be heard echoing in the room the children were trapped. None of them really expected to get out, at least not until the fighting had finished, so when part of the lights came on and the large door opened all of the children old enough to understand what was happening simply stared.

It was a woman that none of them had seen before, Miroku being the only exception as he had a lot of his life inside that cage. The women was tall and it was obvious that she had once been beautiful, thick midnight hair was slick and long. When the lights flashed off the midnight mass a blue tone seemed to reflect, large deep blue eyes were staring at each individual child until they came to rest on Miroku a sneer left broken pink lips before they continued until they rest on Kagome. The girl was still rather beaten looking, but it really didn't matter to the woman in question. A hateful glee seemed to enter the woman's eyes before a hand waved and Kagome's cage door opened, causing Kagome to scowl and stay right where she was backed against one corner next to Shikamaru.

"Come here, brat." The voice was that of a soprano, light but had a cruel edge that just seemed to be waiting to take a bite out of someone. Seconds ticketed by to minutes, finally the woman spoke again this time a cruel grin showed across the warn out face that had stared at them earlier. "If you don't there is a command on these cages, and one by one I'll electrocute every single child in this hall. Until only you are left, do you really want to be responsible for that?"

The insane look in the woman's eyes told Kagome more than anything, that this woman might very well be telling the truth and the Sarutobi girl couldn't live with herself if she inadvertently killed Shikamaru. Slowly, so as not to hurt herself anymore than, she was already damaged, the blue eyed child forced herself to the front of the cage. It was almost instantaneous, the women with the insane light in her eyes, grabbed hold of Kagome's left wrist, then quickly yanking the girl up and out of her cage. Kagome couldn't help but to scream as more force and pressure pulled her arm out of socket all the while, the bruises pulled and stretched under the skin making her insides light up with a painful fire.

"Did you know you ruined my life, I kept hoping you would rot away in that closet but you never did. Did daddy make it all better?" The cruel woman asked, an amused smirk was directed at the girl before she was dropped. Kagome hit the ground her feet quickly gave way beneath her weight, while she tried to keep from landing on the dislocated shoulder. None of the others made a sound to worried to make a noise, and Shikamaru found himself watching with a sick sensation ran up his stomach. This was, this was Kagome's mother?

"You stupid brat, answer me! Did DADDY make it better?" The snarling voice asked before a delicate looking foot in silken slippers reared back to kick the girl. The only thing that saved Kagome from a number of broken ribs, was the purple eyed boys shout. This only seemed to make the woman release and even more animalistic sound, before turning sharply to stare at the boy. A quick hand movement seemed to light the cage up with a small light show of electricity. MIroku's scream echoed off the walls, eyes seemed to burn as they studied the woman each of them trying to decide how to this crazy woman had managed to run this origination. The movement of her wrist stopped the show, only for Miroku to scowl his body twitching with the electric currents. He was a wind user of unrepentant ability, electricity and lightening didn't hurt him like it would some of the others.

Eventually an eerie quiet settled, those dark blue eyes in the older woman's face simply seemed to stare at Miroku as if she really couldn't see the boy at all. It was pretty obvious that this woman didn't live in the present like the rest of them, but perhaps lived in the past stuck in a never changing world. "Get up girl, or I'll do it again."

Kagome really wanted to do nothing more than curl up in a ball, memories that had been held at bay from her family were beginning to unwind in her mind. She could remember being trapped in a small room more than likely a cupboard or broom closet, there was never any kindness or sunshine. Shouting was a constant, as was a slap for ever imaginary "insult". A sob seemed to stick in her throat as she found herself standing again, trying to cradle the painful dislocation of her shoulder close to keep it from jarring. Blue eyes so like her own stared down with a dispassionate gaze, and Kagome couldn't help but be mad.

It was an unconscious movement, Sachi took a step back there was something that seemed to glow in the girls eyes something dark. It wasn't like her own wildly crafted hatred, something strong and determined it wasn't something that Sachi wanted in the child. To the boys watching as the two females stared at one another, it was easy to see the younger girl was the older woman's child.

Similar dark blue eyes, one mad, the other a child that hadn't yet been tested, both shared glossy hair that was so black it reflect blue and on occasion didn't reflect at all. The size and shape was different, the younger having a more exotic tilt at the corners of her eyes. The nose was again similar, but the younger carried more of a button roundness that indicated youth. Those similarities made it obvious as to who Kagome's mother was, but Shikamaru also knew that Kurenai looked similar enough to Kagome that many who met the two believed them to be biological mother and daughter. Kagome shared a fuller body of hair with a significant amount of wave, and the full cherub lips his own mother found adorable that Kagome shared with her younger brother.

"I hate you, and you are not my mother." The words were soft and fell from Kagome's cracked lips without hesitation, she didn't consider this thing to be her mother. In fact, Kagome wasn't sure if she considered this thing to even be human. People like this needed to be culled. A hand flew forward and Kagome simply stepped back out of the pink hand, the hiss of dismay and anger that flashed across the woman's face did nothing but make Kagome's plump lips thin in utter disapproval.

"Don't look at me like that you little bitch!" The woman looked like she was going to rage, and for a brief moment Kagome was slightly worried as to what the woman would do. Instead, the woman seemed to calm making Kagome wonder if this creature had any sanity at all resting with in her mind.

Instead Kagome found sharp and hard nails dragging her toward the door, and into the hall way. The door keeping that had kept them trapped was large and cumbersome, Kagome could only go wide eyed the door wasn't shutting anymore. Sachi scowled down at the girl, she was suppose to suffer as much as she had! But the small child refused to back down, if it had been up to Sachi the girl would have been nothing but a way to get money. But no, the older woman had a horrible amount of luck. One of her beaus had found the young three year old stuffed inside a storage trunk, unfortunately for Sachi this particular man was horrified and had taken both the child and trunk with him.

If it hadn't been for Ochiro Tsujitani the brat would more than likely be making Sachi pleanty of money on the child prostitution market. It didn't really matter anymore, the girl was going to do nothing but make babies as a bitch for some ninja in Iwa now. A cruel smirk appeared on her face, she hoped the child was going to be miserable.

O o O w O o O

Shikamaru swore softly, chakra and shadows seemed to burst out around them. Because so few of the lights were working, it made things a bit easier the soft click seemed to catch the attention of all the boys. The first click of sound were followed by several more, it didn't matter much in the long run if they couldn't get the mechanics of the door to open.

Shikamaru scowled, before shoving as hard as he could against the locking mechanism, and he could only huff in frustration the damned thing was jammed.

"Well that was an example of skill." The bland response from Jakotsu made Shikamaru want to cut the other boys vocal cords out. The boy should really be the apprentice of Anko of that he was certain, Anko hated men, Jakotsu hated women, and they both were sarcastic as hell. He wasn't the least bit surprised when the other three boys seemed to realized what exactly the clicks were. The long haired Haku was the first to respond, the generally polite boy was actually rather hard headed as Shikamaru had come to find out while they had been trapped together. The boy was rather elegant when he pushed hard against the door, only for it to give way quickly.

"Hmmph," Haku huffed, dust seemed to rise up from the place he'd made sliding and hitting the floor after the door gave way in such a dramatic manner. "That worked rather well, what should we do now?"

Kimimaro shrugged, before shoving against his own cage door only for it to move a bit the slip right back into place. "This side is looks like it might be jammed, the clicks sounded off."

Miroku nodded in agreement, his own door had opened with relative ease. It was strand being able to stand up on his own without worry about being forced back into the cage. "Who do you think it going to come Shikamaru?"

"I know my father and Kagome's father will find a way to force themselves on this little trip. They'll need a tracker so probably at least someone from the Inuzuka clan. They might have a fourth member, but I'm not sure who would be selected on that information." Shikamaru replied easily, watching as one of the younger children had quickly figured out that they could get away once they managed to forced the door open. It was all Haku could do to keep the boy from running off, it wouldn't do to have the boy run out into a battle field.

Miroku frowned, "I'll be back, Haku you going to wait for the Konoha nin?"

Haku opened his mouth to respond and seemed to think better one answering, "What are you going to do Miroku?"

"I'm going to go kill her." Miroku responded easily and it was all they could do to watch the boy walk away. Haku and Kimimaro knew Miroku the most for the last three sales, or the last three months they had been living in captivity with the purple eyed boy and this was the most alive they had seen him. Miroku had been on the verge of giving up, but something about that little girl kick started his will to live.

Haku was certain that the next time they saw Miroku, that the purple eyed boy would more than likely be covered in blood or they wouldn't see him again. Instead silence settled over them, Haku wasn't about to leave the rest of them behind and so he settled in to wait and try to keep the younger children from running off.

Shikamaru could only sigh, this was the first time he'd ever felt so inept at anything and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Being useless wasn't something he was comfortable with, he would have to change if he wanted to protect the things he cared about. A sigh left his lips, maybe he should have tried harder in the academy but would that really have helped anything? Maybe he should have listened to his father more, Shikamaru had no idea how many times both his mother and his father had nagged him about getting more of the family jutsu down mainly because it could come in handy. If he'd had more control he'd have been able to do more….


	33. Action

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Chapter 33

_One hour before…._

They had split up into different directions, Asuma allowed himself to be pulled in the direction that Koaku was keeping watch. Like his father had the Monkey King Enma as a personal summon, Koaku had been his own summon since he had learned to summon at the age of 13. The monkey summon included several hundred types of both monkey and ape, because of this the entire Sarutobi family often had three to four summons that they each used. Each species had a different specialty and if one was bright they would learn to use those specific abilities to work with 100 percent efficiency with their partners. Currently, Enma was the King or Head of the monkey summon contract, if and when an ape or monkey became king the title would change to Ape or Monkey summon respectively. Enma ruled over them all with a firm, but wise hand, it was why he'd been King even before his father had made a contact with the mildly ornery male. None of that changed the fact that the Monkey/Ape contract would always be linked in an eternal bond with the Sarutobi clan and their descendants.

Eventually, black fur appeared in his line of sight hiding in the shadows of the tree top canopy roughly fifteen feet above the ground. Koaku like himself had grown, she was tall now. Taller than himself by several centimeters, she stood around 200 cm tall but had nothing on the 230 cm that Enma laid claim to. Even though Koaku was of the Gibbon class she like most of the summons of the monkey contract looked more human than most animal based summons like the frogs or slugs. Koaku's face wasn't covered in fur like the normal gibbons that were free to roam in the forested area of Hi no Kuni. While sharing similar facial feature such as lacking fur around part of her forehead, eyes and mouth, there were also differences such as the fact that most of her chin and front of her throat where hairless as well. Bright golden eyes seemed to glisten with sharp attention to detail, her thick black hair fell down her back over a short gray hapi coat. A similar part of long black pants were tied off directly below the knee all the way down to the top of the ankle.

What did surprise him was the sight of a two women resting against the bottom of the old camphor tree that Koaku had made herself comfortable in. The Sarutobi male could see rough bloody puncture wounds, where the common carotid artery had been punctured. It was unlikely either woman had stood a chance. While Koaku might have been a relatively passive summon, she was still extremely powerful summon and had a no nonsense attitude toward things.

"The red headed one is one of the two that took Kagome-Chan." The voice was a feminine one, but a low soothing alto. Golden eyes that Asuma was very familiar with spoke down from the tree top, before looking up to continue studying the perimeter of the grounds. There were seal alerts surrounding the area but the second the two women had stepped beyond the alerts Koaku had been upon them. She hadn't taken them from the same area, so the humans had no idea the two women were dead rotting beneath the tree she'd picked for the best vantage point.

"I see… and the other?" Asuma responded simply, studying the two women. Their bodies would be sealed away before being sent to the T and I department, hopefully they would be able to get information as it didn't seem that the two women had been dead for an extended amount of time. They were both missing nin, if nothing else Konoha could use the extra money that would come from gaining the bounty on their heads. The red headed woman looked like Ochiai Nahoko, she was known throughout the elemental nations those bright heterochromia iridium with eyes of pink and yellow.

Ochiai was known for kidnapping the next heir of the Kaze no Kuni Daimyo, then ransoming the boy back. Only she sent the boy back in three separate pieces three weeks apart. The ransom on her head was ridiculously sky high and would hopefully help them, with relations with the both the Land of Sand as well as their hidden village, Suna. Ochiai was also known for several unsavory events such as killing off her own genin team as a teenager, as well as leaving several broken bodies on her escape from Kumo. It wasn't often that Kumo produced a ninja like her, but on the occasion that it did happen they were usually taken out by Kumo's hunter nins. Ochiai seemed to be a wilier than most, but she'd finally been laid out flat.

The other woman seemed to be a relatively mousy woman with soft gray hair and blue water eyes, her name was Mitsuwa Tae from Kiri. Mitsuwa was a weak willed woman easily influenced by others, she was chump change in comparison to Ochiai. Either way there could be a number of jutsu that could be pulled from their minds in autopsy, it seemed as if this would be useful in expanding their knowledge of jutsu and perhaps even secrets of other hidden villages. The question was how much this would cost them, how much this would affect them in a negative way.

Shuddering in frustration, Asuma bent down before rolling out a blank sealing scroll. The thick linen cotton blend stretched out across the two corpses, a quick jolt of his own chakra and the bodies simply disappeared into the scroll itself. There was no telling how many men and or women had been working in this human trafficking gig.

"Have you managed to get a count of them Koaku?" Asuma stilled, voicing his question before taking several steps back and twisting around behind the thick base of the tree. Someone was heading this way and he had no intention of setting of the alarm as of yet. The more information that they could gather, than the easiest it would be for them to get their children, as well as any others that might still be held inside the camouflaged building.

His heart was pounding and the only thing he could hear was the rustling of the branches above his head as well as the shifting of Koaku. The young female hadn't moved an inch and instead was using a type of internal chakra to help herself remain invisible from the view of whoever was coming closer. The steps seemed to become more hesitant the closer that they came toward the tree, a sudden sound seemed to stop the approach before it continued.

Shifting slightly, Asuma edged just enough to see out around the corner of the rough bumpy side of the tree. It was a tall man, the flash of red near the man's face seemed to cause a ding of recognition. This man was wanted by Iwa, he was called Aka and that was all he'd ever been known as. The red eyed man didn't have a surname but he was listed in the bingo book as an A edging toward S class missing nin. One of his most impressive abilities was the fact that he could change his appearance from hair to height, the only thing that he couldn't change was the color of his eyes. Those demonic red eyes the color of drying blood, he was also about the only known person with eyes that particular color. He was currently wearing the face of a ninja out of Konoha, someone who'd been dead for nearly 12 years. Kaname Yamanaka was once of the top ninja in Anbu, he'd gone missing on an Anbu mission and they had never found the body. It seemed he'd become one of the many victims of Aka…or Akuma as he was often times called.

A high pitched scream startled the man, as well as the large form that literally descended on him with a great fury. Snarls ripped through the large summons throat as she immediately began to force sharp nails into both the man's wrist while her large k-nines began to penetrate the edge of his throat. Aka on the other hand didn't make a sound though the pain had to be extraordinary, blood seemed to be pouring out of the five puncture wounds on each wrist. There were also two long gaping wounds across the left side of the man's throat where Koaku had been aiming for the left common carotid artery.

A strong blast of chakra blew Koaku back against the large old tree, which was quickly followed by a fiery attack meant to kill. The experienced summon simply swung herself upward and out of the way of the hot flames, a snarl leaving her lips before an extendable staff was swung down just as the ninja himself moved out of the way. It was like watching two wild animals fight against one another.

"Who sent you summon?" The deep gravelly toned voice questioned, not once had they ever had someone managing to find their operation headquarters. Then again Ochiai and Fuwa where idiots, it was entirely possible the damned summon had followed them the entire way from Konoha proper. They had become more lax the longer they continued to do this job, he knew they would have to be disposed off soon before they exposed the entire operation. It seemed now it was too late, Konoha was probably on its way there they needed to evacuate.

"You took my charge." Koaku replied, it was deep and guttural the type of voice that sent shivers down person's spines and ensured nightmares in most. Golden eyes glared with anger, not one single summon felt comfortable when their word was put into question. These thieves had taken a summoner of their clan and that was not acceptable to any of the Monkey Contract.

Red eyes narrowed, it was rare that any summon would so actively hunt for someone in their care. It meant that this summon was attached which could be used against the tall beast. Instead of speaking he just began to go through a number of hand signs, before activating a genjutsu that was something of a signature for him. It was similar to the Hell Viewing Technique which was a D-rank jutsu, this on the other hand was much more powerful. It had no name, but it caused the viewer to see specific things that he wanted them to see. Sometimes knowing the enemies weakness was more important than allowing another genjutsu to run on its own.

Aka watched in mild relief as the genjutsu seemed to be taking hold, this female was more powerful than he was and the body he was imitating was actually more for show than actual power. He needed to get back to the base as soon as possible, if they were lucky they would be able to move the majority of their inventory before the Konohan nin's managed to arrive on scene. The summon was beginning to snarl in utter rage, and he could only which with mild satisfaction as she began to attack the old tree before him. Turning he never felt the kunai as it slipped between the vertebrae of his spine, nor did he feel the sharp pull on the bottom part of his neck. Aka never heard the sharp crack as his neck broke and his body allowed gravity to take it to the ground.

Asuma could only watch as Koaku came back into her mind, as he once more unrolled the sealing scroll. He never took his eyes from his summon, Asuma had never in his life seen a summon affected by genjutsu like that. Almost all summons had a natural resistance to human chakra which was why instead of simply dying when they became extremely injured they found themselves returned to the summoning plain.

"I did not like that Asuma." Koaku was a relatively stoic individual, she didn't show a large amount of emotion to anyone. Asuma and his family was perhaps the exception, it was much the same with Enma. Enma wasn't terribly fond of the other members of the Sarutobi clan and he certainly held no love for those outside their family. Enma wasn't even particularly fond of Asuma himself, but he did like Kagome and Souta. Some summons like Enma and Koaku had soft spots for the children of the family which was a good thing for them in the long run.

"I didn't find that terribly enjoyable myself, are you alright on chakra?" Asuma finally responded, with a mildly perturbed expression on his face. Koaku was really acting out of character, he wasn't sure if she was simply pissed off or if these people had done something to insult the summon while the four Konohan ninja had been making their way

"I am at an acceptable level of energy. Also to your former question, there were eight that looked around walking the parameter. I believe that one or two more might be staying inside the compound. The only two women I've seen are inside your scroll the rest seem to be male." Koaku replied, the dark fur around her face was in disarray. The long pieces of hair like fur hung low particularly, matted in blood and tangled with branches and briars that she'd likely collected along the way. Her entire body seemed to be tense with agitation and violence.

"Do you have an idea as to how large the parameter is? "Asuma eyed the female next to him. Koaku had already for the most part taken out roughly a third of the men working this little project. That made things good and bad, it meant that unless the tree of them were extremely flaky or irresponsible than someone would be expecting them back from their rounds. A sigh left the Sarutobi male, at least he'd gotten some sort of information.

"No, I cannot test the seals the same way that humans do. Nor do I understand the measurements that you use. You know this Asuma." Koaku replied, there was a more understanding and sympathetic look on her collected face now. Asuma rarely lost himself unless something happened to Kurenai or his daughter. Very few summons herself included understood why humans needed such measurements, they simply weren't something that she would need in the summon world. Many of the smaller monkey's like lemurs understood the need and happily used such information to spy and give better estimates on size, because of the class differences they were taught different things. Knowledge of where the seals ended where in a way instinctual, she could feel something off with the senjutsu beyond the point of the seal so had made a point to not cross it.

Asuma simply sighed, before waving and moving on. He wanted to see more of this seal, he also wanted to see if he could gather more information that he could use immediately. Koaku would likely kill anyone else that wandered this way, and there wasn't much he could do to stop her. That and Koaku could resist being dispelled, like all high ranking summons so there was very little he could do to stop her. Though in all honesty he was more worried about Tsume blowing their cover than Koaku...missing ninja tended to be more arrogant than those still connected to a village. Tsume and Kuromaru had a bad tendency to blow people up and away when they were frustrated.

Shuddering at the thought of the two Inuzuka members, Asuma continued on which his scouting. Hopefully nothing horrible would happen within the time they were beside themselves, then again Kakashi was probably creating enough traps to kill the entire lot of them, while Shikaku had mentioned something about creating a Shadow to collect more information inside the compound. If he stretched it far enough he would be able to pinpoint where the children were being held and that was the most important thing.

O

Kakashi stood by quietly waiting, while Tsume and Asuma had both gone off he'd decided to stick by Shikaku. At the moment Shikaku was setting something of a trap for anyone that tried to escape, once they actually got around to infiltrating the sheltered area several meters inside the barrier. It was really going to be something of a two-party trap. Shikaku was having to weave his shadows inside the small hole Kakashi had created in the seal barrier. It was minutiae and time consuming work, taking fragile chakra control and intense concentration.

Part of the trap was similar to someones nervous system, it would allow Shikaku to know exactly what was happening inside the barrier and if he had enough time it would extend all the way into the compound itself. Once the ground work was completed, Shikaku would be able to feel everyone inside the barrier. The Nara male would also be able to touch anyone, if they walked into the shadowy web that was currently being woven.

Because of this and his continual connection to the shadows he would be able to trap, kill or incapacitate the enemy ninja. Unfortunately to keep a ninjutsu like this up, he would need someone to watch his back and Kakashi had no problem being that person. Kakashi had also taken the time to call on four of his dogs that were capable and willing to take down another human, and they were now heading out to find and trace the parameter which would help Kakashi route the area.

The white haired man could admit to being worried about Shikaku, he hadn't said much the entire run. None of them had slept much on the four hours down time when they'd had to pause hours beforehand. But there was a silent anger in the two of them that could mean good things and it could mean bad things, either way the one that took the two children would not be returning to Konoha alive. But they also needed to get all the files and information that this place might have, there was no telling the number of children that might have been taken over such a long period of time. Unfortunately, Hi no Kuni could be held responsible if some of the children that had been stolen and sold came from outside of the Land of Fire.

A grunt of discomfort sounded directly to his right, and Kakashi could only turn to find his eyes widening at the sight before him. The tree directly inside the barrier seal had a ninja nailed through with shadows, the amount of blood splattered across both the tree and the ground made him cringe. Onek particular shadow had directly speared the green haired man in the crotch and there was nothing left but a gaping hole where his genitals once rested. It simply reminded Kakashi that he was grateful, he had never pissed off a Nara that much.

Kakashi remained silent, the man was literally speared against the tree, and yet he wasn't dead. Being a ninja was something of a hazard, both to the person taking mission and to the people who were important to them. Kidnapping, revenge killing, mutilation, all of these things were done on account of revenge. It was a hate filled emotion that filled many ninja, that didn't allow themselves to see that what they did as wrong they couldn't or it would weaken their resolve. Many of the men in the corps couldn't accept that Naruto was no more the demon than his mother or Mito had been so many years before. Some just didn't have the ability to open their minds to learn more about sealing or about the other arts that could be included with being a ninja.

Shaking his thoughts away from such negative ideas, Kakashi instead returned his attention to the man currently penned by sharp solid shadows. It really was bad of him to have missed the man being pinned and then emasculated. Shaking the thoughts from his minds he opened the Sharingan eyes implanted in his left eye, it was on occasion mildly painful simply because so much information was rushing into his mind. While the Uchiha said they were the only ones that could fully utilize their genkai keikei, but Kakashi was relatively certain that both the Aburame and the Nara could likely use the Sharingan in a more constructive manner.

"There are two more men out they seem to be in the general direction that Tsume and Kuromaru went. It also seems that something is beginning to spook the people inside the compound. Another one stepped out of the barrier, he hasn't come out so either Asuma or Koaku took him out." Shikaku could only take a deep breath, this type of jutsu took a lot of concentration as well as chakra output.

"Can you tell how many there are total or where the children are?" Kakashi replied, he knew that Shikaku wouldn't be able to tell by chakra alone if they were men or women but he would be able to tell their number. Kakashi could only analysis the information he was recording, there only seemed to be three viable entrances from what he could see of this side of the building, there was no large wall but their might be several traps hidden within the foliage and shrubbery. The building itself was heavily camouflaged to make it look like the surrounding area along with a low level genjutsu to discourage ninja, civilians and most animals.

" Shikamaru and Kagome seem relatively safe, though Kagome's chakra indicate severe stress. There are four other juvenile chakra sources in the same area as well as seven or so undeveloped sources indicating younger children. These younger children are held in the same area and in another containment area. There are roughly two mid-civilian level chakra signals, as well as seven other signals that high ninja levels including the man pinned, and the man who stepped outside the barrier." Shikaku replied, in reality there were only five other men left to take out. "Correction, the two headed Tsume's way have stepped out of the barrier."

Kakashi just groaned, this could end well or badly. For the most part the Inuzuka's where amazing trackers but they could be hard headed and down right tenacious when after pray, but their stealth on occasion...slipped. Kakashi only nodded, finally going completely quiet there wasn't any need to alert anymore of these men or women to the fact that there were ninja in position to take them out.

O

Tsume grinned, the scents were nauseating but it also made finding these idiots much easier. Kuromaru was following easily, the ground was leaving prints and scent this was one of those places that many men and several woman had passed. It seemed that the genjutsu and slave that was being used was almost in the path of a trade group, which could explain why this little group had gotten started in the first. With such easy access to goods and information like trading merchants or even villagers moving from one area to another it would be easy to spread the word about sells and items bought.

Pausing, both Tsume and Kuromaru disappeared inside the cover offered by the trees and the bushes, dark eyes watched as two men left the barrier. Between the two of them they held a dead body, it had been decaying for several hours from the rank scent of decay that was beginning. Long enough for flies to lay their eggs on the body, it was also faint but the metallic scent of drying blood as well as the faint smell of Kagome and Shikamaru though Kagome's scent was much stronger.

Tsume frowned, before glancing at Kuromaru who simply nodded they needed to see why the man smelled like the two children. They would have to split up, Kuromaru would have to investigate the body while Tsume had fun with the two men. Tsume nodded before taking to the trees, Kuromaru simply huffed slightly before following the men from the ground.

Kuromaru's brows would have pushed together if he had been human, these to men smelled almost identical. This could mean a number of things, most of which that these two men were brothers possibly or more than likely twins. It was rare for twins to go into the ninja job class, and they tended to have matching skill sets and chakra capacity. On rare occasion twins who became ninja literally shared one enlarged chakra pool and had to be kept on the same team and missions as distance put both at a disadvantage. Kuromaru wasn't certain that Tsume would be able to handle the two of them for any length of time alone, he would simply have to play his part a bit quicker than normal.

It seemed very strange, why exactly were they going so far from the compound. Kuromaru's ears began to prick up with interest as the two in front of him began to murmur to one another. It seemed they felt that the shit was going to hit the fan. The two of them were thinking about making a run for it, they hadn't gotten a pay check within the last three weeks so there didn't seem to be any reason to stay. A mildly fanged smile would have been seen on Kuromaru's face if the two in front of him had turned around, these two were young and seemed to be relatively untested as if they had just been brought in to this particular ring recently.

They had gone roughly for kilometers and it became very apparent after they just dropped the body that they intended to run. Within moments were off and Kuromaru could here the rough shaking of the leaves as Tsume took off after the two rogue ninja. Kuromaru instead focused on the corpse laying stiff and in disarray, the only parts that were movable were those that had been hit or caught as the two men dragged the corpse out into the woods.

The corpses neck was in a horrible, the damage was rather great and could only be done through a human enhanced through generations of a summoning contract or a large solid metal object. The scent that was buried in the ruined throat was that of Kagome mildly sweet but sticky and musty from lack of bathing, not of metal. The man's hands was that of several children, and adults indicating he was a very physical man before his death. A low growl left him at the scent of sex, though it didn't seem to be mixed with that of the childrens.

Snorting, Kuromaru left following the trail of men and Tsume there was little mud but already he could see the signs that Tsume and the two men had gotten into the fight. They hadn't taken things to the treetops as most of the damage seemed to have occurred at the middle of the trees trunks. A large tree had been drilled through, which meant that Tsume had used Passing Fang attack which could and did cause a lot of damage to anyone who got hit.

Tsume's laugh of delight reached his sharp ears easily, turning toward the left he followed the sounds as well as the curses and shouts of frustration. It seemed his partner was doing little more than toying with the two young men. Laughing softly, Kuromaru simply sat upon a fallen log partially covered in moss and mushroom. Tsume had used several Shadow clones, because she was one of few ninja with enough power to use the chakra heavy kinjutsu. It seemed that the two men were highly confused and didn't really understand what was happening. The Shadow clones were distracting and when used correctly allowed the user to insert themselves inside and outside the battle, it wasn't a hard tactic just one to breed confusion and fear.

Kuromaru's tail swept back and forth in the air several inches above the ground, on occasion hitting the leaves that had begun to grow up around the fallen tree. The area in front of him was relatively clear of other trees instead being covered by rocks, dirt and small patches of grass. Currently two clones were ducking and weaving out of the twin males attacks only to dart in and hit them relatively hard. Tsume was sitting on a tree limb opposite him, a smug grin of amusement on her face as she watched them tire themselves out.

These men were little more than boys, they were probably chunin level maybe eighteen or nineteen years old. They smelled similar to Iwa, a rocky dustiness seemed to infest their scents. Their eyes were small green orbs that easily showed their frustration. Drab brown hair covered their heads as well as well tanned skin, they would be able to blend in very easily with the civilian population. These two couldn't be allowed to survive, or get away for that matter they knew things that would put Konoha in a bad light. All great villages had horrible things that needed to be hidden, but this would also serve as something that they would have to be more aware of during the following years. This sort of thing could end a large village and war to rise up.

A soft snort left Kuromaru's nose as they started fighting once more but didn't seem able to get any farther, instead he nodded with Tsume and got ready to attack. The two men were still fighting in almost perfect harmony, but nothing could be the unity between an Inuzuka and their canine companions. Using his own internal chakra, Kuromaru changed taking on Tsume's shape. They had been practicing this together for over twenty years, this change was easy to do as walking for him. It was odd to be in a human form, but he was so used to the shape and movement that it no longer bothered him and felt very much second skin. It also affected Tsume in a similar manner, but allowed her to move like he did.

The two of them waited as the two clones began to flip backwards, Tsume and Kuromaru struck using the Fang Passing Fang to pummel the twin men with many attacks. Just as quickly, the two of them disappeared away, only for the two shadow clones to appear behind the two men and snap their necks. Tsume's smirk continued, she was relatively smug it was a quick clean kill. Dismissing the shadow clones she could feel the chakra rushing back into her body.

"Well that didn't take too long. I suppose we should be heading back?" Tsume asked, a smug grin on her face. A pointed look from her partner made her laugh lightly, before a thick leather scroll covered with a single layer thick linen cotton blend unrolled. Inuzuka's where a tiny bit harder on ninja supplies than most other groups, and she was harder than most. Sealing the two bodies away, the scroll curled back almost automatically before it was tucked away into a pocket on her thigh. With an easy twist, the two of them raced off to round the barrier completely.


	34. Into the Compound

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Un-betaed.

Chapter 34

Into the Compound

Kakashi focused on what he was working on. In the last ten minutes or so he'd begun working on a seal array that would completely take out the barrier seal array. As much knowledge as Minato had pounded into his gray haired head, there were still some things that he didn't know. Some of the individual seal strokes were modified, likely a mix of Kiri and Kumo array.

He could have the barrier down in no time at all, but unless he got inside and looked at the matrix there were many unanswered questions. The matrix itself could have triggers in it, which could include alerts and traps that would occur once the barrier came down. Kakashi was concerned that this particular array might have a dead man trigger which could blow the entire compound up. This concern wasn't as great because the ninja in question would have to take into account that he or she themselves might be in the compound when the trigger would go off. It was more likely that there would be a series of alerts and possibly a few delayed fire explosions, that would allow the seal master to get out. They would have to balance the pros and cons before going in.

Looking up, Kakashi could only sigh Shikaku was still using his shadow web to keep an eye on things inside the compound and inside the barrier. Asuma and the Inuzuka pair would be back soon he hoped so they could get this show on the road, there was something that seemed to be rubbing him the wrong way. The silver headed male hoped that the others would arrive soon, the sun was up rising higher and higher into the sky. Sweat was beginning to form on his brow from the heat and humidity, Shikaku was equally affected.

His forehead protector was once more covering his eye keeping him from using too much chakra as the Sharingan still used up much more chakra than he was comfortable with. It was one ability he used sparingly as it tended to cause massive amount of pain, which made long-term missions very hard to do. He could hear movements in the surrounding foliage, most of it was coming from the right which was the direction that Asuma had taken. Soft voices that seemed to be arguing, a small smile seemed to form on his face as the voices became more distinct. It seemed that Tsume had gone around the entire barrier and had spooked both Asuma and his summon.

Only the severity of the situation kept him from laughing in stress and mild amusement, turning slightly toward the right he watched are the large fronds of a thicket of ground plants gave way. Tsume eying Asuma with tightly coiled amusement shining in her body languages and the glitter of her dark slitted eyes. Asuma on the other hand was eying Tsume as if terrified as to what she might do to him.

The conference between the four of them was relatively short, this trade of information was really in there favor. With two civilians, and only three ninja, two of which felt like chunin levels and the man Shikaku had pinned to the tree had ended up bleeding to death nearly fifteen minutes ago. It was time to go, Shikaku had drawn back his shadows and like Asuma and the others taken several steps back. Earlier in the day, he'd gotten his dogs to deliver his seal tags around the outside of the barrier, these tags were all connected through a chakra string. Once Kakashi pushed his chakra through the tag in his hand it would destabilize the barrier, the rest of the ninja prepared themselves all of them knew that this would send the alerts through the compound allowing those hidden inside to know they were there.

Seconds passed, before a light shimmered and the barrier keeping them out basically snapped. Sound reverberated, before the barrier shimmered into sight before falling completely. The blare of sound rocked the five of them lightly, before all of them were off. Kakashi needed to find the two civilians, while Tsume and Kuromaru were headed after the three remaining ninja. Shikaku and Asuma went after the children that had been taken from them.

Kakashi found himself taking off for the far end of the compound, it really was one long line of a building. There were no bumps or even windows so it had to have been well sealed to keep the light from shining out from any cracks that might have been at any of the junctions of the building. It was very strange it would have taken years for this to be built up, this couldn't just be one gang's work. Time, effort ,and money had gone into this project, it had also been established in the area.

The silver haired man sighed, getting up into the trees to take long jumps from tree branches. The Hatake male had mild sensor abilities to the point that if he was extremely close, it was easy to identify how strong and where the chakra signatures were going. Kakashi took a flying leap before flipping silently through the air to avoid a dive bombing crow, the blackbirds were highly territorial and hated it when ninja came near their nest. The second source of civilian level chakra was moving in the other direction and Kakashi couldn't help but feel conflicted he could follow the moving source of find the still one.

Making a call, Kakashi continued on until reaching the end of the building. There were three entrances each would be easy to break into. Frowning, Kakashi studied the entrances while rummaging in one of his jounin vest pockets for a tool that would allow him to pick locks. Taking the northernmost door, Kakashi landed the air around his landing displaced air sending loose dirt and fallen leaves away from the door. Eyes studied the handless lock, this was chakra and key based. The tool Kakashi was using was an Anbu specialty that allowed members to perfectly mimic the chakra needed to open the door while they picked the locking mechanism. Unfortunately, if a ninja didn't work fast enough it might cause an alert to got off and you might get burnt by the backlash from the door. The Hatake male though, was damned good at picking locks. It only took 2 minutes or so before Kakashi was in and slipping the door closed after him.

The entry way was long and narrow which meant there was little room for maneuvering, most of the doors were open making it easy to peer inside to make quick assessments on whether the information that could be gathered would help or be useless. Most of the open doors seemed to be similar to the barracks of Anbu, bunk beds with a desk and shelving other than that the rooms were very bare. If there was time, he would see if any of the scrolls or items were worth anything. The next set of rooms were a galley kitchen and a large communal bath. Most of these rooms were cramped and very efficient in the use of space, it was much smaller on the inside than it looked on the outside of the building.

Continuing down the dimlite hallway, Kakashi finally found something of interest. It looked to be an office, unfortunately it seemed he had come a bit too late. A large man who was heavily overweight was resting in a plush chair that was generally found in an office of an elite. His large head was hanging forward, thin hair was keeping him from seeing any defining facial features. The man's suite was of a more western style, which was more closely associated with high money or mob affiliations. The only concern the Hatake had, was that there was a large tessen or bladed fan thrust quite brutally in the man's chest and from the number of holes that could be seen it had been a traumatic and violent death.

Shaking his head at the death, Kakashi forced himself to calm down at this strange turn of events. Kakashi turned his attention to the information on the desk he found times, dates and payments, as well as work stubs. Unrolling a different sealing scroll he began to layer the items before sealing them. Leaving the scroll unbound he began to go through the rest of the information as fast as he could, dust seemed to be flying as item after item was dumped and sealed inside the the scroll.

Opening the Sharingan things began to progress at a stunning speed, things were discarded and deposited on a length of the scroll at a growing rate. It was obvious to see that this slave ring had gone on for years and no one had managed to catch it. Pain was beginning to throb behind his eyes as his chakra began dip lower and lower, normally he tried to avoid using the Military Ration Pills. These pills would literally keep him going until he was worn out, the more adrenaline and chakra pushed out the faster they metabolized which would cause him to crash at the end.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for him to sort through the items inside the office with his Sharingan, as well as sealing up three safes that he had no idea what sort of information might be contained inside. Once he was done with that room he headed back into the hallway, and began to rummage through the other rooms. He found several items that would be useful to Konoha as a whole, and happily sealed them away. The silence followed by the sound was a shock to the system as well as being blown back nearly all the way toward the entrance his back slamming into and through the thin metal walls. A broken gasp seemed to pull violently as Kakashi tried to catch the breath that had been forced out of him by the impact.

Struggling up, Kakashi pushed some of the debri that had landed around him. There hadn't been much heat with the impact, just the pressure. It wasn't a seal but a bomb of some sort that didn't use much fire. He'd been lucky, the silver haired man had been in the last room before whatever it was had exploded. It was something new a different type of chakra bomb or something similar, this third of the building was nearly completely demolished. Seconds passed before a large explosion erupted and more of the building became debris. What the hell had happened?

O

Tsume couldn't help but grin as the scents began to disperse all three of them took off at once it seemed it was everyone for themselves. Kuromaru practically groaned, the hunt seemed to be on the large black wolf like dog could only follow as she took off an eagerness in her gait. Silence seemed to surround the two men as they watched the woman and her partner take off, Kakashi had been off almost immediately down the long building.

Unlike Kakashi who had stealth and protocol Asuma wasn't in the mood, he was more of a tank and heavy combat specialist. Shikaku was more of a stealth and tactical portion of the show, when instead of even attempting to breakin through a door Asuma used an unsteady jutsu he'd been working on Shikaku had only eyed him speculatively. The jutsu itself was similar to the the chakra exercise of leaf cutting, this was just a much large version that had something of a small turning blade that took on something of a greenish-blue hue. It was relatively unstable but would be useful as a tool for cutting through items quickly.

Asuma didn't even have to wait for the go ahead, as Shikaku was stepping in not bothering with his usual caution. The Sarutobi male could only snort and follow, this room had only two doors both seemed to have been rather battered one was hanging open slightly. The two of them could hear soft murmurs from the door but there seemed to be some sort of suppression instead, a scuff of shoes on the floor had the inside of the room going silent.

Sign language had them both agreeing to see what exactly was in the room, quietly they eased around before relief settled over the two of them. This room was where the children had been held, the door opened the children all froze even those too young to really understand what was happening.

Shikaku could only look at his son with frustration, he'd never seen Shikamaru defeated, lazy or bored was common for the young. The older Nara couldn't help but wonder if this was how Asuma had felt the first time he'd seen Kagome and realized what a responsibility he had to the small girl.

"Dad!" Shikamaru felt his heart jump in his chest, he was embarrassed and ashamed. He felt like he was partly responsible for what had happened and he'd been no help at all. But with that embarrassment and shame was relief and love and appreciation. Sometimes Shikamaru had wondered if his father had really loved him, they didn't spend time together like Asuma and Kagome or Chouji and his father Chouza. Shikamaru had to fight to keep the tears from his eyes, his shoulders were shaking roughly he barely noticed the door swinging open as Shikaku forced it open with a very sharp Kunai covered in bit of chakra to ensure it would slice through the metal.

It was almost if they were the only two people in the building, Shikaku didn't try to hide how he felt instead just gathered his son close to his chest and clung to him. Yoshino had been crying for what seemed like days when the older Nara had left. It was hard seeing his tough as nails wife break down, Shikamaru wouldn't be able to keep away from her when they finally managed to get home.

Asuma could only look around besides the four older boys and six younger children he couldn't see his daughter. All but one of the ten children were male, there was a little girl who looked to be about a year old. Fear raced through his heart, his muscles clenched in terror, where the hell was his little girl? All of the children were nude, what exactly did they do to them?

"Shikamaru, where is Kagome?" Asuma finally asked, he couldn't and would not allow this to go. The boy eyes seemed to widen and a pale flash of anger and agony seemed to cover the boys face, and the Sarutobi man couldn't do anything but fear for the worse.

"A woman came in, her name was Sachi. She threatened the rest of us and Kagome went with her, I managed to open the cages with one of our clan jutsu...another boy went after the two of them." Shikamaru replied, in a mildly shaky voice. It would affect him for a very long time the inability to do anything, Shikamaru could only watch Asuma's tan face seem to ashen before the other man was off long legs eating up the hard floor as he left. It seemed that Sachi really was Kagome's mother or at least a danger to his friend.

Shikaku sighed, it really wasn't like Asuma to run off but it wasn't like himself to be so haphazard with caution either. The older Nara male could feel himself calm down slight knowing that Shikamaru was safe, that nothing insidious had happened to his son. Studying the other children, he could only sigh before working on opening the other cages.

"So where are the lot of you from?" Shikaku asked, long drawn out minutes ticked by before he managed to release the locking mechanism on the white haired boy's cage though the metal seemed to be stuck.. He seemed to be about fourteen or so years old, the red marks about his eyes as well of dull white hair and gray green eyes indicated that the teenager could be a Kaguya from Kiri. The older man really wanted to distract the lot of them, if for no other reason to keep them from running.

"I'm from Kiri so is Haku." The white haired boy replied, nodding to the long haired boy who was holding onto the hands of two young children around the age of six or so. The young man seemed to be debating what to tell him before his face fell flat, the white haired boy knew he needed to be calm and wait.

"Hmmp, I'm from nowhere. There isn't a country that would want to claim me...as if I need them anyway." The boy with purple stripes upon his face replied, the onyx haired boy didn't seem to give a damn and seemed rather dismissive of the Elemental Nations as a whole. Flinty brown eyes watched as the older man finally managed to saw through the bar which allowed the door keeping Kimimaru trapped to open. The older man had been a little more uncontrolled with his chakra use at the sight of his son so had managed to saw through the stuck and rusted metal much easier.

Shikaku simply nodded, moving over just a bit to begin working through the second lock which was on the last boy's cage. There was something on the back of his neck that made the hairs stand up, studying the three boys that were currently free an idea seemed to form. Only one of the children wasn't old enough to walk, the rest would be able to stumble out if they started right now.

"I want the rest of you to go ahead and take the rest of the children out. Watch the baby's head when you take him out of the crib." The order was quite clear, Shikamaru was looking at him with worry and Shikaku could only nod. The two boys from Kiri seemed leery of leaving the room, but he could hear Shikamaru murmuring softly encouraging them to head outside of the room. Once they left he focused on pushing his chakra control, the worry that ran down his spine relaxed hearing the lot of them leave the room.

"Somethings wrong in this room isn't it?" Dispassionate eyes stared at him from frustrated brown eyes, there was a bitter acceptance there that made Shikaku uncomfortable. This child reminded him of the children that had come from the third shinobi war, the distance that they put up against those that might harm them.

"Yes." Shikaku replied, tensely. The warning signals seemed to light up inside his mind, the solid thunk seemed to resound in his ear, calloused hands ripped open the door before grabbing the boy. The brown eyed boy couldn't help but shout demanding to be put down. Ignoring the small fists against the back he continued to move quickly just as the explosion seemed to throw the two of them forward.

The impact with the ground was hard, knocking the breath from both of the males, Shikaku had tried his best to shield the younger boy. The pain was hard and it had sent them pummeling into the soft earth, and causing them to slide. The slide wasn't so bad until the propulsion pushed them into a tree, the pain was something fierce.

Shikaku wasn't certain if he wanted to laugh or not, there was likely something broken but the entire lot of them were safe and alive. Really that was all that mattered, Yoshino wouldn't be the least bit pleased that he'd hurt himself so, but she would have been furious if he'd left anyone behind either. That was something that Konoha had taught to their Shinobi, some of them understood this and others allowed human nature to dictate their actions. He could hear the steps of the children heading his way, the faster shuffle was more than likely his son.

"Dad?" Shikamaru had felt a little faint at the action he'd just witnessed. As a role Heroics wasn't built into the Nara gene, his father had literally flown through the air. Once the group of children had gone outside, Kimimaro had insisted that the move away from the building as if it would bite them for standing too closely. It seemed the white haired boy took orders very seriously, and had ensured they had all been far enough from the blast.

Shikaku laughed weakly, as the small teenager managed to worm his way out of his grasp and Shikamaru's shadow and face appeared before his eyes. It was strange being looked at with such consternation. He certainly hoped Shikamaru never did anything quite so foolish, sitting up he could only stifle the grimace of pain. He had probably broken a rib or four and the bruises and rubbed away skin would keep him stiff for days, until he managed to see a medic nin.

"Dad, that was the dumbest thing I've ever seen you do...that was like leaving your porn in the bathroom." Shikamaru was feeling a confliction of emotion, relief and bemusement being the two winners of the race he hoped the rest of the day didn't continue along this line. The look of amusement that his father sent him had a soft laughter of relief break from his lips, god it was over...or close enough to it.

O

Kagome struggled violently, the older woman was setting a pace that she simply couldn't keep up with considering one of their captors had hurt her ankle horribly. Her wrist was starting to hurt painfully as she was continued to be yanked along, if she didn't at least try to hobble after this crazy lady she was certain that being drug through the underbrush and dirt would be the only other option. Thankfully this Sachi couldn't walk extremely well in her heeled shoes and delicate clothing without care.

Looking back the young girl could only hiss, they were much farther away than she was expecting cuts and raw skin was beginning to build up. She was still nude and it kept her much cooler, but it also was exposing the younger girl to midday heat, the black haired girl's skin was beginning to blister something awful. Blue eyes drifted back to the crazy woman, the older woman was muttering to herself and it seemed to be mostly nonsense.

Kagome frowned, some of the words actually made sense like Konoha or Minoa and a few other towns. Most of the towns that were mentioned would be recognizable to any others and well, never mind that the town guards wouldn't let an obviously insane woman drag a nude child who was struggling to get away through the street.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome began to count she needed to get on good footing, then she was going to make a break for it. The moment to escape was upon her and the young girl yanked roughly on the arm that was currently captured, before beginning to run. Her heart seemed to be thundering in her chest. fear was riding inside her. Kagome could hear footsteps behind her as she veered off away from where the compound would be located.

Minutes passed and Kagome couldn't stop running, her foot and shoulder were aching terribly and the stickers and wood was beginning to hurt her feet. The fear was beginning to consume her and the young dark haired girl simply couldn't stop she had to get away. Every sound was Sachi getting closer, ever startled bird was going to mean being captured. Kagome shifted, the feet seemed to be getting closer looking back terror rose up in her, the crazy lady was right on her tail!

Fear and adrenaline can make a person run faster, unfortunately at Kagome's age she was still a little slow in comparison to an adult. When the strong hand grabbed her arm and tugged her around, Kagome could only cry out as the motion carried through and she was semi-tackled to the ground the heavy weight of the adult woman pinning the young child to the ground.

The crazed look in blue eyes similar to her own had Kagome looking away, she never wanted to be this woman and the young Sarutobi girl swore she would never end up like this insane woman. Hysterical laughter rose up, bird erupted in flight and fear at the sounds and Kagome felt utterly alone. The muttering continued, Kagome struggled to breath, Sachi was sitting straddle across her stomach and making hard for the young girl to breath.

Kagome squirmed and writhed, she tried bridging by pushing her legs down which was supposed to push the older woman up and off but she was simply too fat. The dark haired childs next attempt was kicking and kneeing at the back of the woman, which make the woman shriek in surprise the kicks were painful and the woman refused to get off or let go Kagome was beginning to feel weak and out of breath from her struggles.

The dark haired girl was huffing roughly as she stopped struggling, she just needed to catch her breath then she was going to throw this crazy bitch off! The laughter hadn't stopped yet and it was beginning to grate on her ears, Kagome knew that getting mad or allowing any heightened emotion could get you into trouble but she really wanted to hurt the woman sitting on top of her. The Sarutobi girl didn't expect a shadow to catch her eye or a large branch come swinging above her face, impacting Sachi on the shoulder and knocking her off the ten year old girl.

"You should get behind me." The voice was relatively friendly, purple eyes studied her with worry. Longish hair was falling into the older boys face before a hand was offered, Kagome only debated for a few minutes before taking the hand and allowing herself to be pulled up from the ground. The scream of rage from the side of the two youngsters had them both looking up, Miroku still had the stick in his hands and stepped forward in front of her only to hit the woman again as hard as he could sending Sachi sprawling onto her backside.

"Hello, Mother." Miroku could hear the sharp intake of breath from the girl behind him, his own eyes became much colder with his hatred of the woman in front of him. He could see the demented glee when she looked up at him, glancing at the tag still in his ear. A mean smirk lifted his lips up in an ugly, his thin hand rose up before ripping the tag out of the lob. The dark haired boy knew he shouldn't derive such pleasure from watching her glee change to horror. Between the tag laced in his ear and the chakra seals on the room and the metal engraved cuffes that he'd been forced to wear after being sold, Sachi had kept him firmly under her thumb for the last five years since Kagome had been taken away. Now there weren't any cuffes to stop him from hurting Sachi or returning to the woman, and there was no ear tag keeping a constant check on his chakra.

Anger rolled over his face at the memories assaulted him, the violet eyed boy simply lifted his hand and a very strange thing happened. A black hole appeared in the palm of the boys hands and wind speed out like a pressurized bomb hitting the dirt just inches in front of the woman who had birthed him. Miroku had to take a deep breath he wanted to hurt her, wanted to kill her, there where so many things that she had done to him. The only thing that kept him from continuing a terroristic assault against the woman was a small but warm hand on his forearm, he remembered Kagome sitting with the smaller girl briefly as a child. It was doubtful that the smaller girl remembered him at all, but that was alright she seemed to have come from a happy and healthy home life.

"Miroku, we should just leave." Kagome spoke softly, she was a little scared of the older boy. The chakra that he was flowing around was hot and sharp as if it would cut at anyone who made him angry. Kagome was mildly subdued, this wasn't like sparring with Kiba or Sasuke or ninjutsu practice with Kakashi or Kurenai.

Miroku's eyes seemed to flutter to the side as he glanced to the smaller girl, his muscles were tense with the unease that he felt with being near Sachi. He couldn't help but to glare at the woman, before a stiff nod was given and the two of them turned away. The taller boy motioned for Kagome to walk in front of him, it wouldn't do for her to be hurt if Sachi decided to come after them. Miroku was certain that she would attempt to hurt them in some manner, he hoped she did it would give a reasonable defense if he killed the woman who had birthed him.

The screaming started after the two of them had taken several steps, and Miroku could only urge Kagome to keep going, to keep her eyes forward. The dark haired male had watched Sachi lose her cool on more than one occasion and when it started with screaming, animalistic screaming it was never a good sounds of footsteps begin to start behind them and with a glance between the two of them they took off.

The silence that had been around the entire area of the human trafficking camp, seemed to break during the time that they ran. Crickets and birds fluttered and called, but the sound of footsteps urged them onward. Miroku dodged to the left, motioning for the smaller girl to continue the worry on her face made his heart flutter. Motioning again, relief filled the older male as she did as he wanted. It took little time at all before Sachi followed, her pace was sloppy but hurried.

Focusing on his ability once more, Miroku aimed the palm of his hand outward the more air that his palm took in the more of a blast was created by the wind pressure. Shifting his wrist and arm forward, the young male released the air watching with contempt and trepidation. The tight sphere of air traveled quickly before actually impacting the much older woman's hip. Miroku could feel his breath hitching as time seemed to slow down as his mother flew through the air before impacting a tree.

A sharp breath left him as he studied the woman, she was laying in an odd way. It was obvious that a leg had probably been broken as well as an arm. Miroku couldn't tell if she was dead or not and he was half afraid to investigate, he'd dreamed of ways of destroying the woman who'd treated him as little more than livestock for the most of his life. The violet eyed boy was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't hear a second set of footprints that slowed the closer they came two the two figures, before stopping to watch.

Miroku thought that he must be a glutton for punishment he wanted to see if she was dead, or close to it. Taking those few steps where the hardest thing that he'd ever done, one step two step. Miroku didn't want to get to close, Sachi always seemed to have a bag of tricks hidden up her sleeve. The violet eyed boy sniffed, mildly disappointed that she was still alive but in no position to get up and follow the two of them. His mind seemed to blank, his whole life had been about trying to figure out how to get away from his mother what was he could to do now?

Violet eyes shifted back toward the woman one more time, before he turned completely and began walking back toward Kagome. Miroku forced himself to keep walking, if she was that damaged it was entirely likely that she wouldn't make it two a town and he had no problems leaving that woman there to die. A shout caught his attention as well as the clang of metal, Miroku turned in time to see a tessen fan being knocked aside by a large chakra enhanced kunai.

The young boys eyes traced the trajectory of the kunai only for his eyes to widen in surprise, the man before him seemed like a behemoth to the younger male. He was large broad shoulders and seemed to Miroku very similar to a bear in size, his skin was darker a lot like Kagome's and the hair a more matte black instead of the gloss black the he shared with his half sister.

Miroku could only watch as Kagome rushed past him which utter joy and relief crying happily for her father, it was a strange experience and simply reminded the boy of the fact that his younger sibling really didn't need him in her life. There wasn't anyone that needed him in their life, he was ultimately alone. Kagome's father happily opened his arms to his daughter as she launched herself at him, the expression on the big mans face was so profound that Miroku wasn't sure he had ever felt such an emotion in his life.

"Get up." The face changed in a minute, the contempt on the older man's face showed his distaste, harsh lines formed around the corners of his eyes and lips. The command was directed at the Sachi, and Miroku could only notice that her face seemed to pale to a more sickly hue. The woman struggled, but the black haired man offered no assistance only watched as the woman glared hatefully toward his head and the girl still wrapped in his arms.

Nobody seemed to be in much of a hurry, time seemed to have slowed down a little as three sets of eyes watched the woman walk. The break hadn't been clean seeing how she was actually able to walk on the limb, but if Kagome's father was forcing the woman to walk in this manner it would ruin her leg beyond repair. It was likely that the woman's leg was simply fractured, instead of broken in a more conventional manner.

Miroku could only take a deep breath, watching as they walked away. This was how his life usually was sitting back and watching others leave, he'd never had long term friends. The first time he'd been bought it had been for the specific purpose of being a friend and protector of a well known merchants son. The bracelets had controlled him, and the young boy he'd become friends with had become his victim. Miroku had stopped trying after that.

"You coming, kid?" A deep voice interrupted his thoughts brown eyes were studying him with an understanding gaze , Miroku could feel his brows rising up in disbelief. The man nodded head as if to say come on, hurry it up. It was a strange feeling to be included, he hesitated for a few moments before following and coming up parallel the large man. The violet eyed boy was very weary of the man beside him, and tended to dance just outside of his reach. The pace was sedate, Sachi was moving slowly forward as they headed back toward the compound. The smell of fire, and the fluttering of ash seemed to indicate that his small world was going to change. The question was would it be for the better or worse?


End file.
